


Arclight

by Quido



Category: Bleach, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Bad Dumbledore ('cause it's so easy), Finding Family, Gen, Horcruxes, James and Lily are not Harry's parents, Kidnapping, Manipulative Dumbledore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2018-09-26 03:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9859670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quido/pseuds/Quido
Summary: What if James and Lily weren't Harry's parents, but they didn't know?What if to win the first war against Voldemort, Dumbledore brought in someone with abilities he didn't understand?All will eventually be revealed under the harsh unforgiving light of truth found deep in the soul.Currently an Epic Length WIP with a planned scope of the first three seasons of the Bleach Anime (Although there are spoilers for the Manga). Starting during the summer after Order of the Phoenix on the HP side.





	1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Dumbledore thought over the news from this past week. It was full of reports of terrorist activities and subway bombings. While this was disturbing, drawing too many memories up from his past, the news in the Daily Prophet was even worse. Five more Wizarding families had been killed. Two of them were of old pureblood descent and the other three were some of the new wealthy mixed blood families. He poured himself another cup of tea and mused over events. This war with Voldemort and his followers was going on too long for his liking, there were not enough wizards in the world to sustain this kind of fighting. 

Dumbledore could admit to himself that he had never really understood his opponent. He found this a futile fight where too many vital people fell victim. His opponent's views of blood purity would lead them to extinction if they gained a large enough following. Thankfully, his opponent's current tactics were more apt to strike fear than to rally support. If Dumbledore didn't find a way to put a stop to this war soon he didn't know if Wizarding Europe would survive. As Dumbledore paced his office he remembered that he had an acquaintance who might be able to stop Voldemort for good, but Albus also knew that this person would not be willing to help if there was no advantage for him. It had been several years since Dumbledore had asked this person if he would lend a hand, and he had been turned down at that time. However, now things were growing increasingly troublesome and even the Mundane world was beginning to notice the unrest in the Wizarding world. So it was with these thoughts on his mind that Dumbledore made up his mind to seek out his acquaintance and see if the man had changed his mind, it could never hurt to ask, right?

That is why he, Albus Dumbledore, was currently arriving in Japan. The relatively small town of Karakura was a place full of energy, not quite magical, but he could feel the power radiating from this place. The man he wanted to ask for help lived in this town and owned an out of the way candy, convenience and curio shop. Dumbledore made his way down the quiet streets to the shop that was at the end of a cul-de-sac. Entering the shop he looked around, the shelves were stocked with boxes and bags of snacks, glass apothecary jars filled with sweets sat in neat rows on the shelves that ran along one wall, a glass fronted refrigerator hummed quietly in a corner, displaying shelves of soda pop and other cold goods. However, this shop sold far more than tidbits and trifles, if you knew what to ask for. Years before, Albus had stumbled across the Urahara Shoten as he had traveled the world after the end of World War II. At the time he had not been looking for anything in particular, and had been caught off guard by what he had found in the little town of Karakura. He had spent several days in the company of Urahara Kisuke, explaining about magic and the Wizarding World. 

The reason behind Dumbledore's revealing of the Wizarding world to the shopkeeper was caused by the discovery of several items within the man's shop that were clearly of magical origins. Urahara had claimed that they were merely curiosities that he had picked up here and there, but if Albus was interested in that sort of thing he could keep his eyes open. At first Dumbledore had merely thought that Urahara Kisuke had some kind of ability to sense magic, but as the years passed, Dumbledore began to notice that Kisuke didn't seem to age. Whenever Albus came to visit, the store, Kisuke and his employees were essentially the same. Sure the stock in the store was always fresh, and things came and went as the products changed over time, but the people who lived and worked in the shop never seemed to change. Puzzled by this Dumbledore eventually accepted that Urahara Kisuke and his companions were something other than Wizards, but he was unable to determine what they were. Regardless, Dumbledore still dropped in occasionally, sometimes for unusual items, but more often than not he stopped by because the shop keeper carried a wide selection of excellent candy. Entering Urahara's Shop he was greeted by a friend of the owner.

"Dumbledore-san, it has been a long time. How are you?" The towering man, with his black hair in cornrows, mocha colored skin, wearing a white shirt and dark khaki pants covered by a navy blue apron with a yellow design on its front and trim along the hem, rumbled as he noticed Dumbledore in the shop.

"I'm feeling well, Tessai-kun. Is Kisuke-kun home?" Dumbledore asked.

"He is, but he isn't available at the moment. You see, his son has just been born." Tessai answered.

"Really? He must be very happy. I am sorry for the intrusion, but I must ask you to get him for me. What I have to talk to him about is of great importance." Dumbledore told Tessai.

"Very well, but I hope for you it truly is important. Otherwise I'm sure the Boss won't be happy." Tessai replied, before walking to the back.

A few minutes later a tired, grumpy looking Urahara Kisuke appeared.

"Ah, Kisuke-kun. It's good to see you my friend, and congratulations." Dumbledore said brightly.

"Thank you Dumbledore-san. Now what did you want to discuss with me?" Kisuke asked hiding a yawn behind his ever present fan.

"I know I have asked you this before, but the war in the Wizarding world is getting worse, so I must ask you again. Will you help us fight Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked.

"Dumbledore-san, it is futile to ask a question you already know the answer to. My answer hasn't changed and it won't, especially now that I have a family. I am not part of your world, and I have no desire to pull the Wizarding world out of a war you brought upon yourselves. I will have nothing to do with it." Kisuke answered with a dismissive wave of his fan.

"Very well, I was hoping you would have changed your mind, but it seems I was wrong. As I have your answer I will take my leave, but before I go, do you still have some of those excellent Lemon Drops? I can't seem to find anything quite like them back home." Dumbledore asked.

"I think I still have some left, let me see." Kisuke replied, searching the shelves for his remaining stock of Lemon Drops.

"Ah, here they are." Kisuke said, putting the box on the counter.

Dumbledore paid for his sweets and then left the shop. However, he didn't leave Japan. When he heard Urahara had gotten a son he had a brilliant idea. If times had been different he wouldn't have lowered himself to doing this, but he felt that he had no other choice. With a deep sigh Dumbledore resigned himself to his idea. If Urahara wasn't prepared to help him, then Dumbledore would take someone he could bend to his will. The young boy would be perfect, Dumbledore was sure that the son of Urahara would become as strong as his father, maybe even stronger. All he would have to do was Obliviate the memories of the boy's birth from Urahara, the mother and a few others then take the boy with him. He even knew who he would place the boy with, James and Lily Potter would be the perfect couple to take care of the infant.

Shortly before making this trip Dumbledore had gotten news that the Potters first child had been stillborn and that they were devastated. He would place the Urahara boy with them, after changing the infant's appearance to fit theirs. It would be simple enough to make the Potters think the boy was their own son, a mind in a state of grief and denial was particularly easy to modify. Dumbledore's mind began turning, if the boy had powers similar to his father it wouldn't be that difficult to make something up that would turn the boy into a hero of the magical world. Then he would be able to guide his hero against Voldemort and Dumbledore would go down in Wizarding history as the man who had saved them twice.

Committed to his plan, Dumbledore waited until well after midnight to return to Urahara's shop. Making sure that the inhabitants were asleep, Dumbledore performed several strong Obliviates on Kisuke, the mother, Tessai and the others who were staying in the home behind the shop. Once he was done, he cast sleeping charms on them so that he could leave without incident. He made sure to rid the house of any signs of a newborn, so that there would be little risk of Urahara or his friends breaking his memory modifications. Then making the infant boy secure in a sling around his body, Dumbledore activated his return Portkey whisking the pair away to England.

Urahara Kisuke, who had never expected that Dumbledore would go so far to win his war, quickly forgot he had become a father that day. The only remnant Dumbledore's meddling left behind was a crazy idea to design a gadget that would modify memories. Then, if a Shinigami ever had a mission in the world of the living and they got themselves in a situation whereby they needed to make people forget their presence, such a device would be perfect.

So, Dumbledore took one Urahara Haruto away from his parents without them suspecting a thing. Back home he acted quickly. Bringing the boy to the Potters' home, Dumbledore cast strong glamour charms on the infant altering the boy's appearance to match that of James and Lily. Then Dumbledore cast more strong memory charms as he installed the boy as their son. From that day on Haruto grew up as one Harry James Potter. The prophecy that concerned him and Voldemort was made up by Dumbledore himself. The witch Sybil Trelawney, who Dumbledore had recently decided to hire as Hogwarts' instructor of divination, had never made a true prophecy in her life.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

After a year had gone by Dumbledore was certain that Urahara's son would be able to survive the killing curse, which had become Voldemort's signature finishing move. This was the reason he had wanted Kisuke to fight in the first place. Dumbledore wasn't exactly sure what Urahara Kisuke was, all Albus knew was that the man wasn't a muggle, nor was he a wizard. In fact, Kisuke didn't read to Dumbledore's senses as even being magical. Yet Urahara did have some kind of power. This power rendered him 'ageless' and it gave the man an innate ability to deflect certain types of Wizarding spells which was amazing. Most mental spells and healing spells affected Urahara as Dumbledore expected they would, but try to strike Kisuke with anything that even resembled an 'attack' and it just bounced. The killing curse wouldn't have even touched the elder Urahara's skin, let alone kill him. Dumbledore had stayed in close contact with the Potters, asking if Harry had shown any signs of unusual magic. James and Lily had proudly told him of how little Harry had apparently avoided, or repelled several spells ranging from simple infant care spells to a couple of nasty prank spells that had gone awry during the fairly regular prank wars that James, Sirius, Remus and Peter would get into. Dumbledore smiled at the news, now that Urahara's son was showing signs of inheriting the same ability it was time to put his plan into action.

After ensuring Voldemort would go after the Potters, by passing a part of the false prophesy to a spy, Dumbledore encouraged them go into hiding. They wanted Sirius Black to be their secret keeper, but he talked Sirius into convincing the Potters to make Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper and using Sirius as a decoy. Dumbledore knew Peter was weak minded and easy to manipulate and so he took advantage of this and nudged Peter toward the Death Eaters, making sure that the rat-like man would sell out the Potters.

Voldemort took the bait easily, but Dumbledore hadn't anticipated that Voldemort himself would survive the attack. Ironically, it seemed that the prophecy that he had made up seemed to be accurate to a point. So he played along with it and took steps to make sure the boy would be prepared to see him as a caring mentor and would be conditioned to follow his every order. Dumbledore placed the boy with the Dursley's, Petunia being Lily's sister. His excuse to the Wizarding world was that the Dursley's were the boy's only living relatives and that it was the only place where there could be a blood ward cast to protect their 'savior', because Lily had sacrificed herself to protect her son. Dumbledore was certain the Dursley's wouldn't treat the boy well, he knew they hated everything that had to do with magic. Because of the Dursley's phobia and hatred Dumbledore made sure that the the Wizarding world would have very little contact with Harry. He placed himself as Harry's Magical guardian and acted as intermediary for any communications that came from the Wizarding world. He cast spells to divert all of Harry's mail to him and placed strong wizard repelling wards around the Dursley's neighborhood. For the first year after Harry 'defeated' Voldemort Dumbledore was kept very busy with the flood of mail and gifts, but soon enough things settled down and other concerns began to take up Dumbledore's time. Some might think that Dumbledore had forgotten about Harry, but they would be mistaken. Dumbledore installed several people in the area where the Dursley's lived to make sure that the child was watched.

Additionally, once a year Dumbledore would make his way to Privet Drive to check on Harry personally. Officially Albus explained his limited visits to Harry as a precaution against bringing undue attention to the area where the boy lived. In truth, Albus' nighttime visits gave him the opportunity to make sure that his plan was on track and that the boy continued to develop in a way that would mold his body, mind and magic into something that Albus could use. While he was there Dumbledore would cast several spells on Harry to make sure that the little boy's appearance would remain like that of the Potters and so that his magic would develop how Albus thought it should. At the end of every session he would Obliviate his visit from the boy's mind. In the back of his mind Dumbledore did carry some concerns that what he was doing could be inadvertently creating another dark lord, but that little voice was far outweighed by Dumbledore's vision of doing the 'greater good' for the Wizarding world. It would work well in his plans that when the boy turned eleven and was accepted at Hogwarts Harry would see Dumbledore as his rescuer and trust him entirely for taking him away from his abusive relatives. He knew first hand about the Dursley's neglect and abuse of Harry. How the boy was small and thin for his age, never looking like he got enough to eat. How Harry's bedroom was the storage cupboard under the stairs. How the boy was only ever seen doing chores around the Dursley's residence, while the other child who lived there was a spoiled monster. 

No one in the Wizarding world suspected a thing of what Dumbledore had done. No one ever knew that Harry Potter wasn't Harry, but Urahara Haruto. No one knew, but the truth wasn't going to stay secret for much longer. The world was changing and the truth would soon come to the surface.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  
**Chapter one**  
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It was another hot summer day and as usual one Harry James Potter found himself outside weeding the garden. Ever since he could remember Harry lived with his Aunt and Uncle. When he was younger they had told him that his parents had died in a car crash and that he had been left on their doorstep. They also told Harry that he should be grateful to them for being taken him in. Aunt Petunia had told Harry repeatedly that the car accident was the cause of him having 'that horrid scar'. She was talking about the prominent scar on his forehead in the form of a lightning bolt which he habitually tried to hide under the fringe of his unruly hair. Until Harry turned eleven he believed his Aunt and Uncle. That was when, in a series of outstanding events leading up to and encompassing his birthday, it was revealed to him that he had been lied to for his entire life. Lily and James Potter hadn't died in a car crash. They had been killed by a dark wizard who went by the moniker of Lord Voldemort.

On the same day Harry had learned the truth about his parents deaths he had been introduced to the Wizarding world. Harry still counted that day as one of the best in his life. Learning about a whole new hidden world at the side of Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts, had been utterly amazing. Finding out that he was to be enrolled in a magical school, traveling to Diagon Alley and buying supplies had left Harry dreaming of all the possibilities for days. Now Harry only had to live with the Dursleys during the summer breaks, the rest of the year he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

That had been five years ago and while Harry truly enjoyed learning about magic, life hadn't gone easy on him since he entered the Wizarding world. Everyone knew him on sight, and they all had this opinion that he was a hero, or a villain, for doing something that he couldn't even remember. It was difficult for Harry to go from being either a nobody, or a delinquent at his Aunt and Uncle's house to being a celebrity at School. Harry quickly found that he not only had admirers in the Wizarding world, this new life also came with its share of enemies. In his first year at Hogwarts he had encountered the vengeful spirit of Voldemort who had bound himself to the body of one Quirinus Quirrell, his professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. During his second year things hadn't gone much better as he had fought and defeated a Basilisk that was threatening the school.

As Harry weeded the garden he thought back about his second year, recalling the fight in the Chamber of Secrets. That event had been more than a little weird, even by Wizarding standards. The Basilisk wasn't the only enemy he had fought that day. A young Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Riddle was there too. This time the evil man took the form of a memory bound to a diary. Harry could remember Fawkes bringing him the Hogwarts Sorting Hat during the battle. He remembered pulling the sword of Griffindor out of the Hat, but before he had been able to attack the Basilisk with it the sword had been knocked out of his hands and out of his reach.

_**Flashback:** _

_Harry panicked as the sword, which had been his only defense against the huge snake, was slammed out of his hands to skitter across the wet flagstones into the darkness when the blinded Basilisk lashed out with its tail. Harry's first reaction had been to start running again._

_After being chased all around the Chamber for a while Harry began to tire and he could feel the snake getting closer to him. He heard Riddle sneering at him that he couldn't run forever. He knew that Riddle was right. Harry had always been a fast runner, but now he was at the limit of his endurance and he felt himself getting slower and slower._

 _After what felt like hours of dashing about the huge chamber Harry could feel the giant snake close in behind him and prepare itself to strike down with its head to bite him. At the very last moment Harry spun around, closed his eyes and held his arms out stiffly, warding against the attack from above. Seconds ticked by and Harry began to notice that he wasn't being eaten. The chamber fell silent, except for the sounds of dripping water, and Harry realized that the snake had stopped moving and he could feel a sharp pain in his arm._

_Opening his eyes, Harry looked up and was surprised at what he saw. He had impaled the roof of the Basilisk's mouth with a sword, killing the giant snake instantly, but the sword was very different from the sword of Griffindor. The hilt and blade in his right hand looked like they belonged to a Japanese katana. The sword suddenly disappeared from his grip as the Basilisk's head toppled away, falling dead to the ground. Harry heard a snapping noise as his hurt arm was wrenched to the side. Looking down he noticed that one of the serpent's fangs was stuck deeply into his upper arm. He tore the fang free of his arm and stumbled over to where Ginny lay on the cold wet pavement. The wound in his arm felt like it was on fire, but Harry ignored it._

_"You can't save her. Soon she will only be a memory and I will take her place." Riddle sneered at him._

_"I won't let that happen." Harry replied as he took the Basilisk tooth still clenched in his hand and drove it through the cursed diary._

_The shade of Riddle standing before him cried out in pain as ink spewed from the pages of the pierced diary. As Harry watched he suddenly saw a length of heavy chain appear, leading from the diary to a plate which seemed to be imbedded in Riddle's chest. The chain suddenly snapped as if an unseen blade had cut it. The moment the chain snapped it started to corrode, its links disappearing in a haze of grey smoke. The corroding went so fast that it reached the plate at Riddle's chest in mere seconds. The shade's cries had risen to horrible shrieks that echoed throughout the chamber as the chain's links were eaten away. When the plate in the center of Riddle's chest had been eaten away, the shade gave a final rending shriek of pain and exploded, sending a shock wave across the chamber and causing Harry to collapse onto his back. Harry struggled as some kind of force pressed him to the ground._

_Gritting his teeth, Harry gathered his will and forced himself to stagger up again. What he saw before him made him gasp in shock. The shade of Tom Riddle was no longer there. He had been replaced by a huge monster. The monster resembled a snake but it had arms and it was even bigger than the Basilisk. The beast's face looked a little like Riddle, but with slits for a nose and burning red eyes. Its face was covered with a heavy white mask that looked like it was made out of bone. The mask was cracked and its rough edges kept changing, dripping like melted wax, or shifting like thick smoke. Opening its mouth it roared, the sound grating on Harry's ears and making chills race up his spine._

_Harry was weakened from the Basilisk poison running through his veins and thus couldn't dodge the tail the snake monster struck out at him. He was smashed into a pillar and crumpled into a heap at its base. Blackness overtook him as Harry fell unconscious._

_A new scene shaped itself in front of his eyes. Harry stood on a broad ledge near the top of a mountain. At his back there was a cave and when he looked out from the ledge he could see sheer cliffs dropping away and a forest spread out at the foot of the escarpment. Somewhat further away, at the edge of the forest, he could see a lake in the distance. The view was beautiful. He wondered where he was and how he had gotten here._

_"You're in your inner world. I brought you here, because the damage to your body and the Basilisk poison is starting to affect your soul." Came a voice from behind him._

_When Harry turned around he saw a large bird land on a boulder in front of him. It was similar in shape to Fawkes, but instead of being red and orange it was a stormy grey with streaks of bright blue-white feathers along its body, on the underside of its wings and across its chest. Its long tail feathers were black, edged with blue-white and ended with round 'eyes' that were deep violet-blue and split by jagged, forked white lines._

_"Who are you? Or should I ask, what are you?" Harry asked the creature._

_"I am… and I'm your Zanpakuto." The creature answered, but Harry couldn't make out its name. His brow furrowed in confusion._

_"It's logical for you not to hear my name since you've just met me." The Zanpakuto answered knowingly. “Many wielder's take years before they can hear their Zanpakuto's names.”_

_"Alright, but what is a Zanpakuto exactly?" Harry wanted to know._

_“In its simplest definition a Zanpakuto is a spirit that lives inside a sword which is born from within its wielder." The Zanpakuto answered._

_"So the sword that appeared when I struck down the Basilisk was your doing?" Harry asked._

_"No, not exactly. It was partly because of **who** you are, but mostly it was **your need** that **willed** me to appear." The Zanpakuto replied. _

_"What do you mean? The sword appeared, but you did not." Harry said._

_"The sword and I are one. You can say the sword is like a physical body to me." The Zanpakuto answered before glancing up at the sky, “We've run out of time. While I can 'slow' the passage of time while you are in your inner world, I cannot stop it. You have to go back now, but I will be with you.”_

_Harry couldn't ask more as the vision of the mountain side disappeared and the Chamber of Secrets reappeared. The first thing he noticed was that he was standing right next to his body._

_"Don't panic, you're not dead, just out of your body. You will be able to return later, but first you have to fight off that Demi-Hollow." He heard the Zanpakuto say in the back of his mind._

_"Why shouldn't I panic? My body's lying right there, not breathing or anything! Are you crazy? And what is a Demi-Hollow?" Harry asked furiously._

_"That would be the huge snake-like monster." The Zanpakuto answered simply._

_"You want me to fight THAT? Have you seen how big it is? How am I suppose to fight something like that anyway?" Harry asked shrilly, freaking out._

_"Like I said earlier, I am at your side. Use me and I'll make sure you won't get hurt. Oh, and you must cut through it's mask." The Zanpakuto answered._

_Right after the bird finished speaking in his head Harry found that the katana had reappeared again. This time it was sheathed and tucked into the wide cloth belt at his waist. Harry also noticed the flowing black clothing he was wearing. They reminded him of the clothes of a samurai he had once seen in one of the movies that Dudley had enjoyed watching. Harry quickly drew the sword out of its scabbard and turned to face the monster. At that moment the Demi-Hollow attacked. Harry dodged the attack, scampering off to one side. Moving felt weird, it was different from when he was inside his body. All he could do right now was dodge the attacks the Hollow was throwing at him. That was until he got the hang of how to move around outside of his body._

_What Harry noticed most was that he was faster, it felt like he could flow like water or move like wind. His senses seemed sharper and he could feel a power rising inside of him that felt more natural than his magic. Harry didn't question it as he turned the tables and started to attack the Hollow. With a mighty cry Harry sprang at the huge monster and swung his sword to cut through the beast's head. His Zanpakuto sliced cleanly through the creature's bone mask and it gave a final echoing cry as it disintegrated._

_**End of flashback.** _

Harry's Zanpakuto had explained how to put himself back into his body after the battle was over. He saw that Fawkes had stayed near, healing the wound on his arm, and neutralizing the poison in his veins. Harry thanked the phoenix and then went over to where Ginny was waking. Once he had calmed her and assured her that the Basilisk was dead he helped her get out of the Chamber. They met up with Ron and the memory charmed Lockheart and Fawkes gave them a lift back up to the school. The rest of the evening had been spent reassuring the Weasleys, explaining things to the Headmaster and freeing the House-elf Dobby from the Malfoys. He kept the revelation and existence of his Zanpakuto to himself. Harry knew that the voice that now seemed to reside inside his mind was a friend and partner, but Ron had told him how in most of the Wizarding world it really wasn't seen as a good thing to hear voices inside of your head. So he kept it closely held secret.


	2. Visiting Gringotts

Harry was shaken out of memory lane when he heard his Uncle's bellow, "BOY! Come here."

Harry obeyed immediately, brushing the garden dirt off of his hands and knees and making his way to the porch where his Uncle waited impatiently.

"We are going to a very important meeting for Dudley at Smeltings. You are not to make a mess in my house and when we get back I expect you to have done all the chores on this list." Vernon spat at him and handed Harry a huge list with chores he was supposed to do that day.

"Is that understood?" Uncle Vernon asked with a glare.

"Yes Uncle." Harry replied calmly, while inside he was full of glee. He had waited for an opportunity like this all summer long. It seemed that his relatives were keeping a closer eye on him this summer than in previous years. They kept him busy with huge lists of chores and all three of his relatives were keeping a sharp watch on him, as if they were afraid he would slack off or do something magical. Harry was glad that in the days before he had left Hogwarts for the summer he had taken Hermione's advice and borrowed a school owl to send a missive to Gringotts. With his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin's heightened watch, and tightened rein, he never would have gotten away with sending Hedwig to the bank once he had returned to the Dursleys.

After the debacle at the Ministry, between the elation at the defeat, albeit temporarily, of the returned Voldemort and the despair he'd felt at the loss of Sirius, Harry had needed a few days to wrap his head around it all. Hermione had given him space for a day or two, but then had approached him and pointed out that it was quite likely that Sirius, as the head of the house of Black, would have put together a will and that as his godson it would be Harry's responsibility to make sure that it was executed. So following her advice, Harry had composed a letter that explained his concerns and detailed his usual summer arrangements and set it winging off with one of the school's owls.

When he arrived at #4 Privet Drive Harry was surprised to find a small official looking package sitting in the middle of his dingy bed. He blinked when he saw the heavy wax seal on the wrapping. Keeping his hands off Harry took closer look and saw that the seal was from Gringotts. Following a suggestion from his Zanpakuto Harry picked up a scrap of clean paper, licked it, crumpled it up and tossed the damp wad onto the package. Harry had learned that doing something like this would trigger many types of touch based traps or curses, even if it had been keyed to him, while allowing him to stay at a safe distance.

After waiting a few minutes for something to happen, and the package remaining quietly on his bed, Harry sat down and broke the wax seal on the wrappings. Inside he found a simple wooden box and a letter. Opening the letter he began to read:

 

_Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_Allow me first to express condolences on behalf of Gringotts at the loss of your Godfather, Lord Sirius Orion Black. His patronage will be missed.  
Packaged with this letter is a box containing a secure mailing pouch and a command activated port-key. Knowing of your summer living arrangements, and the continued security measures around your person, it is our hope that these items will be of assistance._

_By using the mailing pouch you may contact me, your account manager at Gringotts, at any time. This means of communication is acceptable for most transactions, however official readings of wills and the execution of final wishes, bequests and instructions must be attended in person at Gringotts by all named beneficiaries. The only exceptions to this rule are if the named beneficiary specifies a Proxy through magical contract or is likewise deceased._

_Also for a small monthly fee the mailing pouch can be used like a mundane post office box. All outgoing mail must be clearly addressed, with appropriate postage when necessary. All incoming mail should be addressed in care of yourself at the location inscribed on the tag affixed to the interior edge of the pouch, again standard postage rates apply. We highly suggest checking your mailer once a day. Any communications with Gringotts are normally answered within twenty four hours._

_The port-key we have provided will deliver you to a secure entrance of the closest Gringotts branch to your location. Please note that any guests arriving via port-key will be held for identity and security checks. This port-key is limited to a payload of 500 kg and will not become active until you set the command word. To set the command word, hold the port-key in your off hand, touch the tip of your wand against it and repeat the following phrase, inserting your command word at the blank: “Gringotts Bank port-key command set ______ activate.” We do not recommend using words or phrases common to your vocabulary, words that are difficult to remember, pronounce, or contain excessive syllables._

_Once activated this port-key will be linked to your voice and your magical signature, helping to ensure that it will only activate for you. If you desire to change your command word, simply repeat the above procedure. If you choose to de-activate your Gringotts Bank port-key, follow the aforementioned procedure, but end the phrase with “deactivate”. This function is also linked to your voice and your magical signature to secure the port-key against fraud._

_Finally, I would request that we arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience to go over the status of your accounts._

_May your gold increase,_  
Estate Manager Griphook,   
Potter Accounts Manager 

 

With the Dursley's occupied at Smeltings, today was Harry's first opportunity to sneak away from #4 Privet Drive and go to Gringotts. He quickly jotted down a note to let Griphook know of his impending arrival and slipped it into the mailer. Harry knew that he'd missed the official date of Sirius' will reading, but he knew that Griphook would be able to tell him the contents since he was a named beneficiary. Missing the official reading had made Harry very angry, both at the Dursley's and at Headmaster Dumbledore who had sent him a letter telling Harry to keep his head down, stay indoors as much as possible, and that he would act as Harry's proxy at the reading of Sirius' will. In a pique of fury, Harry had written to Griphook, causing the goblin to quickly reply that since Harry had contacted him directly and denied giving Dumbledore his proxy, only those portions of the will not involving Harry could be executed.

When the Dursleys left Harry picked the lock on the cupboard under the stairs and pulled out his trunk. Giving a silent word of thanks to Fred and George who had taught him the muggle way of lock-picking, Harry hauled his trunk it to his room and began packing. When he had packed all of his belongings he turned to Hedwig. He unlatched her cage and brought her out.

“Hey girl, I'm going to head for the Bank, and I'm probably going to disappear for a while. I need you to help me stay hidden, so don't come back to me until I call you. I know that you can get food and shelter at Hogwarts, and Hagrid will be sure to care for you. Stay away from Dumbledore if you can help it, I don't want him to find me yet.” Harry explained as he looked into the owl's golden eyes. Hedwig churred lowly and bobbed her head. Harry wasn't sure how much she really understood, but he had a feeling that she would so as he asked. He stroked her feathers for a while, not really knowing if he'd ever be able to call her back to his side. Several minutes later, Harry turned her loose from the window sill, took up the handle of his trunk and activated his Gringotts port-key. Once again the whirling and spinning motion of port-key travel sent him and his trunk sprawling across the floor when he landed. He blinked slowly a few times as he regained his equilibrium, focusing on the marble walls hung with a wide variety of swords and pikes. Harry then noticed several armed guards, Griphook and another well dressed goblin.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. We were getting worried you wouldn't be able to come." Griphook said with a chuckle.

"I had a bit of trouble getting away from my relatives." Harry answered as he picked himself up off the floor.

“I understand, Mr. Potter. Now, may I have the pleasure of introducing Director Ragnok, the head of the London Branch of Gringotts. Because of some discrepancies in your accounts and the actions of Headmaster Dumbledore concerning Lord Black's will Director Ragnok has expressed a desire in assisting us in sorting it all out.”

Harry bowed low at the waist, “Director Ragnok, I thank you for your time and assistance.”

"Yes, yes,” Ragnok said with a dismissive wave, “I must say that it aroused my suspicions when I received notice that Dumbledore had excluded you from Lord Black's will reading. Then Griphook brought several other concerns to my attention regarding your accounts. I feel it would be best if we head to my office to continue this discussion." Ragnok told Harry as he started off down the hallway, Harry and Griphook following closely. When they arrived both Griphook and Ragnok cast several spells to secure the room. Once assured that no one would be able to listen in to their conversation Ragnok began, "After Dumbledore raised our suspicions by denying you access to the official reading of Sirius Black's will we took a second look at the Potters' will and discovered that it had been tampered with."

"Tampered with?" Harry asked, his anger towards Dumbledore rising.

"Yes, this is a copy of the will as it was read,” Ragnok said handing Harry a sheet of parchment, “and this is the original. As you can see when you compare the two, what was read, and unfortunately put into effect, is very different from the Potters' true final will." Ragnok said, handing him a second sheet of parchment.

Harry started to read it. His anger rising as he read and compared the two documents. He was astonished to find that Dumbledore had basically appointed himself executor of the Potter Estate and was doing all he could to siphon off the Estate's liquid assets. "Dumbledore has been taking money from me?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so, but that is not all. More serious than the loss of funds is the fact that Dumbledore has denied you access to your heritage." Ragnok told him.

"My heritage? What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"When young witches and wizards turn eleven they are tested to check if they have received any special powers due to their heritage. This is usually done before their first year of education outside the home so their parents and teachers will know how to deal with them if there is ever a situation where their powers go out of control. Most pureblood families in England and Europe home school their children before they are sent to either Hogwarts, Durmstrang, or Beauxbatons. So occasionally, the change in the child's environment will trigger the manifestation of an inherited magical ability. Children from mixed magical families or from mundane parents are tested within the first week of arriving at school. Tell me Harry, were you ever tested for your magical heritage?” Ragnok asked.

“No, I've only been to the infirmary to be treated for injuries. I don't remember if Madame Pomfrey ever gave me any kind of tests.” Harry answered after running through his memories of being under the Matron's care.

“Well we might be a little on the late side, but I think we will still be able to get some results from the test. That is if you want to be tested, of course" Ragnok answered.

"Yes please, I want to know. I need to know what I have been denied." Harry told Ragnok heatedly.

"I thought you might say that, so we prepared the test for you." Ragnok replied.

He opened a drawer and pulled out several items which he placed on the desk top. A silver dip pen, a scroll of parchment, a shallow stone bowl, several fluid filled vials and an ornate dagger were soon arranged on the blotter. "We'll need some of your blood." Ragnok said, picking up the magnificently designed dagger.

Harry didn't hesitate and held out his hand to the goblin. Ragnok sliced one of Harry's fingers with the dagger and let several droplets of blood fall into the stone bowl, before healing the cut with a wave of his hand. After that he added several drops from each of the vials he had taken out of his desk and stirred it with the tip of the dagger. The liquid in the bowl swirled and let off several sparks before settling and changing to a deep golden hue. When he was satisfied Ragnok handed Harry the silver pen and indicated the roll of parchment. "Just write your name on this parchment, using this pen and the contents of the bowl. When you feel the pen tug away, let it go. It will inscribe all of your inherited gifts or powers, and their status, under your name." Ragnok explained to Harry.

Harry did what he was told dipping the silver pen in the golden liquid and writing his name at the top of the parchment. What happened next surprised both Ragnok and Harry. At the top, Harry's name had changed. Under that name were two other names. Right under that was a list of what Harry guessed he had inherited.

For a moment Harry thought the parchment couldn't be right, but then again with what he just learned about the Headmaster he realized that this must be more of what Dumbledore didn't want him to know.

When the pen finally stopped writing Harry, Ragnok and Griphook were able to see the following:

 

_Urahara Haruto: born: 31-7-1988 State: Living Shinigami_

_Father: Urahara  Kisuke: born: 31-12-? State: Shinigami  
Mother: Shihōin Yoruichi: born: 1-1-? State: Shinigami_

_By Blood Adoption:_  
Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter  
Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black 

_Natural abilities:_  
Shinigami, Zanpakuto wielder   
Zanpakuto State: Sealed  
Zanjutsu : Novice  
Hakudo: Untaught  
Hoho : Untaught  
Shunpo: Untaught  
 Kido: Blocked 

_Other abilities:_  
Gift of Tongues: Untaught  
Parselmouth: Active  
 Wandless magic: Blocked  
Wordless magic: Blocked  
Natural Animagus: Blocked  
 Familiar bond: Active 

 

"What does this mean?" Harry wanted to know.

Director Ragnok pointed at the paper, "The first name is your true name, apparently you were not born as Harry James Potter. The name just under that is the name of your biological father and the third is the name of your biological mother."

"W...what? H...how?" Harry stammered.

Ragnok sighed, "What I know about Albus Dumbledore is that he is capable of going to extremes to achieve what he feels is the 'greater good' for the Wizarding world. I'm sure that under normal circumstances he wouldn't have lowered himself to something as unthinkable as kidnapping, but when Dumbledore gets desperate he can convince himself that whatever action he takes is the right one for the betterment of the Wizarding world."

"You're telling me that Dumbledore took me from my real parents? That the Potters are not my parents and that I am not even Harry?" Harry rasped, his voice affected by his growing anger at the Headmaster as the man's machinations were revealed. The air began to feel thick and heavy to the two goblins in the office and small objects began to rattle ominously on the desk and shelves as Harry's magic responded to his mood.

"Please calm down, Lord Potter." Ragnok said in an attempt to reassure the distressed young man.

"I am not Lord Potter, so don't call me that." Harry growled in frustration, the rattling of objects on the desk and shelves growing stronger.

"Maybe not through the blood of your birth parents, but you are through inheritance." Ragnok told him calmly as he indicated the information on his heritage test that appeared under the heading of 'By Blood Adoption'.

"Through inheritance?" Harry asked a little bit surprised, his anger falling away.

“Yes, allow me to explain. When you were about six months old, James and Lily Potter brought you to Gringotts to declare you their official heir. The ritual they conducted tied you magically to the Potter family, giving you the right to inherit the Potter name and title. This declaration ritual is often performed by pureblood families who turn to adoption to gain an heir, or during times of strife when there is a risk of a family being decimated or separated. It places an indelible magical mark on the heir so that they, or the heir's direct descendants, can be later identified and reunited with their inheritances.”

“So because the Potters performed this ritual, they essentially turned their title and estate over to me?”

“Just so,” Ragnok agreed with nod. “Additionally, on the same day Lord Sirius Orion Black, was made your Godfather and also performed the declaration ritual making you heir to his fortune as well.”

Harry thought about what Ragnok told him and the last of his anger bled away. The objects on the desk and shelves settled back into place and the atmosphere lightened. "So, what about Sirius' will?" Harry asked once he felt more settled.

“Lord Black chose to leave an audio will in addition to his official inscribed one. Would you prefer to hear it or read it?”

“I would like to hear it please.”

Ragnok pulled a glowing glass orb from his desk drawer and set it into a wire stand on his desk. The orb brightened and Sirius' voice rang through the room. Sirius' will essentially stated that, aside from a few gifts to Remus, the Weasley Family, disowning Narcissa, Draco and Bellatrix and re-instating Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks to the Black Family, Harry received the full title and all the riches of the Noble house of Black. In the end it boiled down to meaning Harry was now incredibly wealthy, and would probably never have to work a day in his life.

Ragnok gave Harry a few minutes after listening to Sirius' will before speaking, “Lord Potter, if I may offer a few suggestions?”

“Yes?”

“First, am I correct in assuming that you do not desire to return to your Aunt and Uncle's abode?”

“I don't ever want to step foot in that house again.”

"Very well, I can authorize our investigators to see if we can track down your real parents and start the process to get you reunited with them. Secondly I'm unsure of what lengths Dumbledore went to when he transformed you into the Potters' son, but working from your true name and the names of your parents, I am fairly certain that your heritage is Japanese. Since your current appearance bears little resemblance to a native of Japan I would recommend that you be tested for glamours on your appearance. Thirdly from the report of your heritage test you have several blocks on your magic. 

“Because Gringotts is partially at fault for allowing the Potters' will to be changed without authorization, I can require that the tests for glamours and magical blocks be done through our facility. Once the tests are completed I would recommend that the glamours and blocks be removed from your person, as we have found that such meddling is very detrimental to your health. Our medical facilities are fully capable of removing the glamours and blocks. Because of our mishandling of the Potter's will this service will be free of charge as well. I can assure you that should you accept my offer your privacy and safety will be assured. This is the same medical facility used by our employees and we maintain the highest level of security." Ragnok stated.

Harry nodded, Ragnok's suggestions certainly made sense. He wasn't going to allow Dumbledore to use him anymore, and the only sure way to do that would be to leave Britain. If his parents were really from Japan then this was an ideal opportunity, “Thank you Director Ragnok. I believe I'll take you up on that offer.”

Ragnok nodded, “Very good Lord Potter. I would like to ask your permission to call in William Weasley to assist us in the initial diagnoses.”

“Bill? Why him?” Harry asked.

“Mr. Weasley has proven himself to be one of our best human curse-breakers, and he has an uncanny ability to detect even the subtlest of spells. He will be able to catalog all the glamours and bindings that have been cast on you, so that our physicians will be able to remove them.”

“Okay, but why did you need to ask my permission?”

“Harry, when you contacted us at the beginning of the summer with your concerns, I instructed Griphook to make a thorough investigation of all of your accounts. We have found that there have been some questionable financial activities in both the Potter and Black estates with ties to the Weasley family.”

“What kind of questionable activity?”

Griphook answered, “Accounts were opened in the names of Ginerva, Ronald and Molly Weasley which have received payments from the Potter estate. Most transactions were authorized by Albus Dumbledore, however a couple of small items were handled by Molly Weasley and were authorized with the key to your trust vault.”

“Well, I know that you will tell me that it was irresponsible of me to allow someone else to use my key, but I figure that those small transactions were probably when Mrs. Weasley had to acquire my school supplies before fourth year. I couldn't make it to Diagon Alley that year as we were attending the World Cup, and with the history of Cup games running for weeks on end she offered to pick up the items our school lists. I gave her my vault key to buy my supplies, and got it back from her before starting school. I don't know anything about any other transactions. How much has been deposited into these accounts?” Harry asked.

“Compared to the overall value of the Potter and Black estates the full amount of the deposits to these three accounts is miniscule. However, to the average witch or wizard each transaction would be equal to what a mid-level ministry employee would make in a year.” Griphook explained.

“How much?” Harry asked again, his brow furrowing.

“The full withdrawals total 450,000 Galleons over the past five years.” Griphook informed him. “I should also inform you that my investigation has cleared Arthur, William, Charlie, Percival, Fred and George Weasley of any knowledge or involvement in these transactions.”

Harry sighed, relieved that the majority of the Weasley's were cleared. Then he began thinking, Harry knew that he didn't have any real experience in managing money, the Dursley's had made sure of that always telling him that he was worthless and undeserving, but what he was learning today was opening his eyes. Collecting his thoughts he spoke, “Do you have proof that Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Ginny know about the accounts opened in their names?”

“A good question,” agreed Ragnok looking over at Griphook.

Griphook referred to a file in front of him, “Hm, while the accounts have been opened in their names, none of them have made any withdrawals.”

“So the only activity has been regular deposits from the Potter accounts authorized by Dumbledore?” asked Harry as he thought through it.

“That's correct,” agreed Griphook.

“So it's possible that Mrs. Weasley, Ron and Ginny don't know about the accounts. I would like to give them a chance to defend themselves against any accusations of wrongdoing. I'm beginning to think that Dumbledore has had his hands in more than we know.”

“I agree,” said Ragnok with a nod. “Griphook, send an inquiry to Molly Weasley. Word it carefully, ask if she has knowledge of the accounts, but do not inform her of who created the accounts nor how much the accounts contain. If she can prove to your satisfaction that the Weasley family has no prior knowledge of these accounts, you may allow her to know that they were opened by Albus Dumbledore, but you are not to inform her of the account balances.”

“Of course,” Griphook agreed. “Director Ragnok, if this year follows the pattern, Dumbledore will be authorizing another set of deposits by the end of next week.”

“Well that's going to stop...” muttered Harry, “Would it be possible to close out the Potter and Black accounts and open a new account under my birth name?”

Harry watched as both Griphook and Director Ragnok's faces broke into matching evil grins. “That is most assuredly possible Urahara-san,” Director Ragnok informed him. “In fact that will certainly spike the wheel of several questionable actions undertaken by Headmaster Dumbledore. At the moment you are still considered Dumbledore's magical ward and he still has some control over your accounts. However, as the named heir of two prominent Wizarding houses you are eligible for emancipation under Wizarding law as soon as you turn sixteen. If you choose to be emancipated, you will gain full control over your accounts and we will be able to close the Potter and Black accounts and open an account for Urahara Haruto.”

“I'll turn sixteen at the end of next week.”

“Yes, and since you have accepted our assistance in removing whatever blocks and glamours are on your person you will be under our protection. I believe it will take several days to remove all the spells on you, and then you will need some time to recover. I am sure that you will still be with us on your birthday, so we can set everything up to go into effect the moment you turn sixteen and it can be all completed before Dumbledore shows up and tries to meddle.”

Harry thought about his situation for a little longer. He didn't know how much time he had before someone noticed that he was no longer at the Dursleys. If his accounts at Gringotts suddenly disappeared then Dumbledore would be sure to make the connection and Harry didn't want to be responsible for starting a new Goblin and Wizard War. In a brilliant flash of insight Harry latched onto an idea that should help keep Dumbledore at a distance. “Ragnok, instead of shifting everything over when I turn sixteen wouldn't it be better to transfer the bulk of the estates, but leave the Potter and Black accounts open?”

“What for?” Griphook asked, while a glint of understanding began to shine in Ragnok's eyes.

“Dumbledore will be sure to know that something's up with me if the Potter and Black accounts are suddenly closed out. If we keep them open, but make it impossible for him to know the balances or withdraw any more money from them, then I don't think my disappearance from the Dursley's will be connected with Gringotts. It will keep Dumbledore searching for Harry Potter, while I recover and get used to being Urahara Haruto. It will also give you time to locate my parents without Dumbledore badgering you about what happened to the Potter and Black accounts.” 

“That is a very devious and wise choice Urahara-san. I will help Griphook set up the details. We will keep Dumbledore running in circles and out of your way.” Ragnok praised.  
With that decision made Ragnok directed Griphook to escort Harry to the medical facility, and to contact Bill Weasley to come in and assist the physicians in mapping and cataloging all of the glamours and bindings on Harry's body and magic.


	3. Finding out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the assistance of Gringotts Curse Breaker Bill Weasley, Harry starts to discover what all has been done to him.
> 
> Brit Speak:  
> Draughts - a board game that Americans call Checkers.

Harry was escorted to a room that was empty except for a straight backed wooden chair. The walls, ceiling and floor were covered in carvings of squiggly lines and strings of what Harry recognized as runes.

“Sit in the chair Harry,” Bill directed. “Make yourself comfortable, but don't fall asleep. This is going to be the most tedious phase, and I can't give you anything to help combat the boredom because it could interfere with the spells I'll be casting. All you have to do is sit there while I cast a whole lot of detection spells on you. You need to stay awake, because if you fall asleep your magic will get all defensive and I won't be able to get an accurate reading of what kind of glamours or bindings are on you. I'm sure that we will have to go through this several times. I don't want to miss anything, and I'm going to warn you now, one of those times you're going to have to be nude.”

“Nude?” Harry asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Yep, to make sure that my scans can find the most subtle binds and glamours there can't be anything between the end of my wand and your skin. However, I don't want you to worry, I promise that anything discovered in this room will be held in strictest confidence. I'm bound to that oath as an employee of Gringotts.”

“Okay, do you want to start there?” Harry asked thinking that it would be best to get that over with first.

“Sorry Harry, but I can't,” Bill answered with a slight grin at Harry's show of Griffindor bravery, “to get a full catalog of all the spells cast on you we have to find the big ones first. It's kind of like peeling an onion, all the way down to the center. We have to take it one layer at a time.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Harry was bored, it had been over four hours and Bill was still circling him, waving his wand and chanting in a low voice. There was nothing much to look at, and absolutely nothing to do. Occasionally some of the squiggly lines or runes on the wall would flash, or Bill would pause in his chanting, but it certainly wasn't enough to keep Harry's attention.

Suddenly Bill lowered his wand and sighed, “Oh Harry, someone's really done a number on you. I've worked through four layers of bindings and glamours on you and there's still more. What I'm finding are still blatant magical blocks and charms, whoever has been doing this has been tweaking and adding to the magic placed on you just about every year you've been alive. It's going to take some work to get all of this off of you. I know it would be a very bad idea to just go in and blitz it all. We're going to have to strip it off of you a little at a time. It will make your recovery take longer, but when we're finished you'll end up being in better shape.”

“Can we take a break? I need to get up and move, find the little wizard's room and such.” Harry asked.

“Sure, I need to take a break too. Let's go get something from the cafeteria, and take about an hour before we pick this back up. We can also figure out where you'll be staying while we work on this.”

“You sound like you'll be helping for the entire time I'm here.”

“I will be, Director Ragnok made you my only assignment. There have been a couple of other times where I've been called in like this, and each time I've been kept on call or in attendance for the entire process.”

“Really?” Harry looked at Bill trying to see if the man was kidding. Bill helped Harry stand and started walking toward the door, leading the way to the cafeteria.

“Yeah, once it was because a fellow curse-breaker ended up tripping over a rock and falling down a shaft into a heavily warded tomb. I had to do a complete catalog of the curses affecting him before we could reverse them. Another time it was because an important client of the bank had been caught in a barrage of spell fire which had some unexpected consequences. I had to figure out all the spells that had been cast and how they had ended up interacting with each other before we could untangle the mess of magic. Right now, I can tell you that it looks like all the active spells cast on you were done by one person, but they're all woven and knotted together. A couple of them are even linked to your own magical core, which is both extremely dangerous and brilliant.”

“Why?”

“Well a spell linked to your magical core tricks your own magic into thinking it belongs there, like everything is as it should be. The spell also has a constant source of fuel, as long as your core isn't exhausted. They're difficult to break because your own magic will be fighting to keep it in place.”

“And I have more than one of this kind of spell on me?”

“Yes, I've found two so far, and I'm sure that I'm going to find others.” Bill said with a nod. He gestured to a nearby door, “Well here's the cafeteria, let's get in line. Help yourself to whatever you want Harry, while you're here you'll have all the perks of a Gringotts employee.”

After eating, Bill took Harry around the employee quarters of Gringotts. They found out what room he'd been assigned to from the concierge, and Harry found his trunk at the foot of his bed. The room was modest, but had an attached bath. Other than the bed there was a desk and chair and a bookshelf hung on the wall. On the desk there was an old style 'candlestick' telephone, with a short list of numbers beside it. Bill told Harry that the phone system was mostly for internal use, and gave him his room number. Bill also let Harry know that there was limited room service available, but most people just brought trays back from the cafeteria which was open twenty-four hours. Harry could also request that the concierge desk connect him to an outside line if he wanted to call anyone in the muggle world. Looking up Harry noticed several frosted globes filled with a pale glowing liquid hovering near the ceiling.

“These are Goblin lights,” Bill explained when he saw Harry staring at the globes. “They'll stay up near the ceiling unless you snap your fingers and assign them a location. See the numbers on the globes? Each time you snap your fingers and call out the globe's number it will draw near. If you want them brighter tap them with your fingers, they have five brightness settings and then cycle to off. When you leave the room they'll dim to their lowest setting after about three minutes. They'll brighten when you come back into the room. Turning them off or on uses the same verbal commands as the basic light spell, just call out the globe's number and say 'Lumos' or 'Nox'. You can also turn them all on or off by saying 'All' before the command, so when you're ready for bed you don't have to chase them all down. Once you have them set to how you like just nudge them to where you want them and give them a gentle squeeze. They'll stay pretty much in place until you're checked out of the room.”

“Cool,” Harry commented, calling one down with a snap of his fingers to try it out. He cycled it to its third brightness setting and nudged it over to the desk. After putting it where he wanted it Harry turned back to Bill, “Well, shall we get back to cataloging? I want this stuff off of me as soon as possible.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

It took thirty two hours, over four days, to completely catalog all of the spells cast on Harry. They would work for a shift of four hours and then take a break of an hour before returning to the chamber with the chair. By the end of it Harry was an anxious nervous wreck. Bill had kept finding layer after layer of spells affecting Harry's magic and appearance. Most had been cast by just one person, but here and there he found evidence of additional magical signatures. As Harry sat in the chair fidgeting Bill was flipping through pages of a thick report. The sheaf of paper had suddenly appeared from a slot in the wall near the door, once Bill informed Harry that they were done and he could get dressed. Harry watched Bill, trying to get a feel for how things were going. When Bill reached the final page he had a serious look on his face but was nodding.

“Well?” Harry asked.

“Oh sorry, didn't mean to keep you waiting. I just had to make sure that all of my findings were recorded accurately. Now I'll give copies of this to the physicians and we'll plan out how we're going to strip all of the bad stuff off of you. It's going to take a day or two to put the plan together. Since you're currently restricted to remaining inside the medical facility or quarters, I can show you where the employee library is if you'd like. We've also got a game room where you might find a few people to play a game of darts, draughts, chess, exploding snap, or billiards.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, inside he wanted to get on with it and wondered why Bill just didn't call in the physicians and get started.

Bill caught the tone of Harry's voice and looked at him, “Remember Harry, several of these spells are linked to your magical core. If we rush into this it could tear your core apart, damaging your magic, turning you into a squib or even killing you. Since none of the spells are putting your life in immediate danger, we have time to plan out the best way of getting rid of them. Trust me a little time now will save you a lot of pain later.”

“What?”

“Most of these spells are affecting your appearance and magic at its most basic levels, when we take them off your body is going to change into what it should have been all along. It isn't just going to affect things like hair, skin and eye color. Taking these spells off will change your internal structure too. I wouldn't be surprised if you'll have to re-learn how to walk after we're done. If we just barge in there and tear them all off at once you'd die. Your body would be torn apart from all the changes. We're going to have to take it slow and give your body time to adjust, not just to the physical changes we're going to put it through, but from the release of your magical core. Quite a bit of its energy is fueling the spells on your appearance, but there are a couple of nasty blocks on it as well.”

“Oh.”

“Right,” Bill said with a pleased grin that Harry got what he was talking about. “Now, let me show you were things are and I'll go hunt down some doctors.”

Bill led the way, showing Harry where he could find things to keep himself occupied. Harry ended up checking out several books to his room from the employee library and retired there to read.


	4. Beginnings of the Unraveling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things progress under the gentle care of Gringotts, while Albus begins to have doubts.

Albus Dumbledore looked at the shelf of silver instruments that he had linked to Harry Potter. Albus had only managed to repair a couple of them after Harry had destroyed the lot when his temper had flared and ripped through the headmaster's office last spring. The rest of the silvery spell monitors had been a total loss and Dumbledore had to rely on the daily patrols of the members of the Order to know where Harry was and how he was doing. The two monitors he had left were linked to the blood wards cast on the Dursley's house and on Harry's life force. The monitor linked to the wards was moving feebly, and Dumbledore wondered if it had suffered more damage that he had originally discovered. Normally, at the end of the school year that monitor was almost still. Then over the summer, while Harry lived at the Dursley's, its movements would grow stronger and by the time Harry arrived at Hogwarts in the fall it would be chugging along at its top speed. With the summer being just over half done, it should be moving more vigorously. The second monitor, linked to Harry's life force was still giving off strong readings, but as Albus watched it gave a series of small jerky movements. Albus contemplated it for a while, but when the motions settled he dismissed it. The reports he was receiving from his order members let Albus know that the Dursley's were keeping a close eye on Harry and not allowing him outside unless it was to work in the garden. 

Dumbledore sighed, he'd spent most of the day at the Ministry presiding over a meeting of the Wizengamot. He had listened to hours of debate over what the Ministry's response to the return of Voldemort was going to be. Amelia Bones had made a good case for immediate increases in the Auror department and her request was easily passed. Minister Fudge's request for an increase in his personal guard was just as easily defeated. Looking at the clock Albus saw that it was well past midnight and he still had to contact the order members who were on duty watching Harry. Wiping a hand across his face Albus realized that he was just too tired to think straight, and the report from the order members would just have to wait until morning. This summer those reports had been the same every day, so Dumbledore felt that it wouldn't hurt to let them wait for a few more hours.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Late morning found Dumbledore pacing a hole in his office rug and cursing himself a fool. The Order member who was watching Privet Drive had told him that yesterday a work crew from a garden maintenance company had arrived to care for the Dursley's yard, and the last time Harry had been seen outdoors was almost a week previous. As soon as he had gotten that report he had apparated to Little Whinging and confronted Petunia about Harry's location. She informed him that the boy had gone missing a few days ago, but she had thought that the wizards had him as all of his belongings were gone as well. Dumbledore wiped his visit from Petunia's mind with an Obliviate and rushed back to Hogwarts. Already he had gone through all the spells he knew to pinpoint Harry's location, but just like in the muggle world those spells worked best when the trail was fresh. If the target could evade capture for twenty four hours then they had a reasonably good chance at remaining uncaught. Dumbledore had even asked Fawkes to carry him to Harry, but the phoenix had refused, whistling a low scornful note and turning his back to the headmaster. Albus knew better than to try to force Fawkes to take him anywhere. The last time he had done that Fawkes had dropped him off above Mount Etna, where only his own ability to apparate while moving had saved him from having a case of severe burns. As it was he'd lost a favorite hat and a set of very expensive custom made robes. To really drive the message home, Fawkes had proceeded to disappear for almost six months. Never again had Albus attempted to force Fawkes to take him anywhere.

Dumbledore reviewed his plan of action to find Harry. He had members of the Order quietly checking all the places that Harry had been the last time he had vanished from the Dursleys, but so far the reports were leading no where. Harry hadn't been picked up by the Knight Bus and he hadn't gotten a room at the Leaky Cauldron. When asked, Ron and Hermione told everyone that they hadn't heard a thing from Harry all summer. Dumbledore wished that he could put out an alert through the Ministry that Harry was missing, but that would tip off Voldemort and then Harry would have more than just his friends searching for him. Dumbledore rubbed his brow and sighed. If news got out that Harry Potter was missing, having the Death Eaters out looking for the boy would be the least of his problems. The Minister would be breaking down his door demanding that he do something about it immediately. Fudge would be frantic, and Dumbledore would only be able to show that he knew that Harry was still alive. With that thought Dumbledore shot a quick glance at the shelf that held his monitoring devices. The one attached to the wards at Privet Drive had ceased to function and was dull with tarnish, indicating that sometime overnight the wards had fallen completely. The one attached to Harry's life force was still bright and operating, but it would give an odd twitch every couple of minutes and it wasn't moving as strongly as Dumbledore would have liked.

A bell chimed, and Dumbledore swore under his breath. Once again he was being summoned to preside over a session of the Wizengamot. Gathering up his hat and a few scrolls from his desk he crossed to the fireplace. Just like yesterday he fully expected today's session to be filled with the squawking of Minister Fudge and his demands that they do something about the return of Voldemort. The problem, as Dumbledore saw it, was that unless they picked up a good lead on where the maniac was located, there was very little they could do except respond to the Death Eater attacks which were increasing every day and increase the levels of security around sensitive areas, which they were already doing. With a sigh Dumbledore took a pinch of Floo powder from a dish on the mantle and tossed it into the flames. He didn't want to leave his office while he had people out searching for Harry, but he also couldn't allow news of the boy's disappearance to reach the media and that meant that he had to conduct himself as if nothing was wrong. He sighed again, sometimes it was such a burden to be a leader of the light.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

It took two days for the goblin physicians and Bill to come up with a solid plan to remove all of the blocks, bindings and glamours from Harry. While he was waiting, Griphook contacted him and let Harry know that he had completed his investigation into the accounts set up in Molly, Ron and Ginny's names. Griphook had found that the accounts were all Dumbledore's doing, the Weasleys had no knowledge of the accounts creation, and had never made a transaction on them. Apparently Dumbledore had set them up, either as a further bid to manipulate the Potter fortune, or possibly as a way to generate potential blackmail material against the Weasleys. Harry directed Griphook to stop any further payments to them from the Potter accounts, but to leave the money as it was. Harry was considering making the money a gift to the Weasleys for all that they had done for him, but he was unsure on how to present it in such a way that wouldn't damage their pride.

Griphook also let Harry know that after the physicians were finished, he would be enrolled in a series of courses to teach him all that he would need to know to be a proper heir to two prominent houses. Harry asked if he could include some martial arts, general education, and language courses and chuckled at Griphook's response of “of course, I'm sure that we can negotiate a reasonable fee.”

Bill made sure that Harry got a good night's sleep and had a light breakfast before the physicians began their work. This time Harry was taken to a much simpler room and he was asked to disrobe and put on a wrap around hospital like gown. Once he was dressed as they wished the goblins asked him to lay down on a low bed.

“Harry, we're going to take things slowly to let you get used to it. Just let us know if you need to take a break. I'm not going to say that this will be easy or comfortable for you, but this first round shouldn't be too hard on you. We're going to focus on stripping out the spells that aren't connected to your magical core. Just like before, I want you to relax, but don't fall asleep.” Bill explained.

“Okay,” Harry agreed, lying back and trying to relax.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Three hours later the physicians ended the session, Harry felt like he'd been stretched too thin and wrung out like a wet rag. While they had worked Harry had felt roasted and chilled in turns. His body had been stretched and twisted by the magic that had swirled around him. His skin felt scrubbed raw and even the roots of his hair tingled. Then Bill told him that they would work on the next layers tomorrow, after he'd had a good night sleep. Bill also said that the physicians were quite hopeful that they would be able to start stripping the spells off of Harry's magical core by the end of the week. Harry nodded weakly, catching his breath as one of the goblin orderlies brought him some loose fitting clothes. With Bill's help he got dressed and allowed himself to be shepherded back to his room. There was a covered tray waiting on his desk, loaded with a bowl of soup, a lightly grilled sandwich, a glass of milk and a mug of tea. Harry found that he was feeling sort of hungry so he ate what had been offered and then fell gratefully into his bed.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Harry was woken abruptly from his afternoon nap by the sound of alarm bells ringing and people running through the halls. Getting up he went to his door, only to find it locked. As he tried the knob a piece of parchment suddenly appeared before his eyes.

**PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE.  
** GRINGOTTS IS CURRENTLY UNDER LOCK-DOWN DUE TO A DISTURBANCE IN DIAGON ALLEY.  
IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE, PLEASE RING THE CONCIERGE DESK.  
THE DOOR WILL UNLOCK AFTER THE ALL CLEAR HAS SOUNDED.  
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE, YOUR SAFETY IS IMPORTANT TO US. 

Harry took the piece of parchment to the desk. Sitting in the chair he realized that there really wasn't anything that he could do right now. He was still recovering from having the first round of spells stripped off of him that morning. Right now he was safe, he would have to put off worrying about his position until something else developed. The rude awakening by the alarms had shocked him out of his nap, and flooded his system with adrenaline. Feeling a need to calm himself Harry decided that it had been too long since he had held a conversation with his Zanpakuto. He moved across the room to sit on his bed with his legs crossed. Harry focused on his breathing and let himself relax into a meditative state. The ease with which he centered his thoughts and slipped into his inner world would have shocked Professor Snape if the man had ever found out about Harry's skill. It had only taken one Occlumency lesson under the miserable bat, for Harry to realize that he could never allow the Potions Professor into his head. To protect his secrets, Harry and his Zanpakuto had worked together to shield his mind while still allowing Professor Snape to see everything that the oily haired man expected to find.

Harry slipped easily into his own mind, finding himself seated on the broad ledge in front of the mountainside cave and looking out over the forest. He could feel the presence of his Zanpakuto behind him. Turning slightly, he held out an arm for the storm phoenix to land on. As Harry felt the bird's weight settle he brought his arm in close and stroked its feathers. The bird leaned into his chest, enjoying the attention.

“It's been a while Harry, or is it Haruto?” the bird asked after a few minutes.

Harry smiled, “I guess it's Haruto now. We've had a lot of revelations lately haven't we.”

The phoenix nodded, “True enough, and finding out about all of those spells that have been cast on you... I'm not sure why I didn't feel them earlier. You will be facing a trial as those physicians rid you of all that tampering.”

“I know, but once the spells are gone I'll be able to become what I was always meant to be.”

“Yes, I can already feel that what the goblins are doing is freeing your Reiryoku. This is the name for the true source of your power Haruto, and it is based on the strength of your soul, not some kind of energy core. The spells that have been cast on you have forced it to act like a wizard's magic, and it is not. I have a feeling that before this is all over you will be rebuilt from the ground up. However, do not fear for I will always be here to support you Urahara Haruto. Maybe after this you will be finally able to hear my name.”

Haruto nodded, his Zanpakuto had told him that part of why he was unable to hear his Zanpakuto's name was because there was an outside force affecting their interaction. The Zanpakuto had learned of this interference while they built the defense of his mind against Snape's Legilimency attacks. Now he wondered if another part of his problems in hearing his Zanpakuto's name was caused by not knowing his own.

“That is a very wise observation Haruto, you may be on the path to finding the answer.” the phoenix nodded sagely.

Haruto quieted and the two of them sat peacefully, looking out over the forest in his mind.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

When Haruto came back to the real world the alarms had stopped and there was a new note on the desk next to the phone.

**THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.  
** THE DISTURBANCE IN DIAGON ALLEY HAS BEEN CONTAINED.  
GRINGOTTS LOCK DOWN WILL BE LIFTED IN APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES. 

Harry rested until he heard the door lock click, and then because he was feeling hungry decided to go to the cafeteria and see if he could get a snack. The halls were clear when he left his room, but there was a small group in the cafeteria. Harry stood in line and picked up a few snack items before heading to the tables. Just before he sat down he cringed as he caught the familiar voices of Fred and George exclaiming, “Harry, is that you?”

Knowing he was caught, Harry dropped his head and slumped his shoulders and set his tray on a table before taking a seat. “Are you going to tell the others about me being here?”

“Not if you don't want us to, Harry,” said one twin.

“Yeah, what happens here stays here,” agreed the other, as they took seats beside and across from where Harry sat.

“Thanks, I don't think it's a good idea for too many people to know where I am right now. By the way, why are you two here?”

George sighed, “We lost the shop. There was an attack on Diagon by Death Eaters, and if not for the arrangements we'd made with Axetooth, our account manager, we could have been badly injured.”

“What happened?”

“The alley was attacked by a strong force of about twenty Death Eaters. They seemed to have several specific targets in mind,” Fred explained. “As you can guess, with how we mocked old Moldyshorts with our window displays and advertisements, we were a prime target. They looked like they were going after all the shops and stores that could be considered friendly to muggle-born. Madame Malkins', Olivanders' and Fortescue's were leveled along with Wheezes.”

George picked up the story, “Axetooth recommended that if we were going to be 'consistently painting targets on our assets' that we arrange with Gringotts for a personal protection plan that included some of their secure portkeys. When the store started coming down around our ears, we activated them and came here.”

“Okay, but why aren't you still in security?”

“Oh that, a lot of the goblins know us,” Fred explained. “Once Axetooth got to know our business, he took a few samples home and apparently they were a big hit. We get a steady flow of mail orders from Gringotts employees.”

“And so, when we have to use our portkeys there is usually someone in the receiving room who knows who we are and can vouch for us. Makes getting through security much quicker.” George finished.

“Have you let your parents know where you are?” Harry asked.

“They know we're safe, the Weasley family clock would have told them that, but we haven't had a chance to contact them yet.” Fred answered.

“Things in the alley are still pretty chaotic, and the ministry is running about looking for someone to blame all the damage on. When the shop went up, a lot of our stock got set off, so it's probably better if we lay low for a few hours.” George said wisely. “Now that you know why we're here, why don't you tell us what you're doing here?”

“Let's go back to my room, this place is a little too open.” Harry said as he gathered up his tray and led the way back down the halls. He knew that he would be able to return the tray later. Once Harry had led Fred and George back to his room he settled on the desk chair while the twins made themselves comfortable on his bed.

“So, what's up Harry?” asked Fred.

“Well, you do know how things went pear-shaped at the ministry this last spring?”

“Yeah, we heard all about it from Mom and Dad. Mom keeps switching from being extremely proud of what you did, to being terrified at the thought that she could have lost you, Ron and Ginny. Dad keeps going on about how stunned the Ministry is at realizing that a bunch of fifth and fourth year Hogwarts' students could have broken in and gotten all the way down to the Department of Mysteries with such ease. There's been a lot of shake up at the Ministry, but we all hope that things will be better once the dust settles.” George explained.

“Okay... Well I guess that's as good a place to start as any...” Harry said with a shrug. He spent the next hour telling the twins about how he had blown up at the Headmaster after finding out that Dumbledore had known the entire prophesy, but had kept it from him because the old wizard had wanted Harry to have a 'normal childhood'. About how Hermione had urged him to contact Gringotts with inquiries about Sirius' estate, and how when he had returned to the Dursley's it was to find a package from Griphook, that gave him his own secure mailer and Portkey. Harry then wrapped up his tale by letting the twins know about what he had learned from Ragnok concerning his hidden heritage and how it looked like Dumbledore was to blame for a lot of shady dealings concerning the condition of the Potter Estate.

“Wow Harry, guess that life for you can never be boring eh?” responded Fred as Harry finished his story.

“Yeah,” chimed in George, “but I still can't figure Dumbledore for being so nasty.”

“I know,” sighed Harry. “Ragnok told me that from what he knows about the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore will go to almost any lengths to stop Voldemort if he can justify it as being for 'the greater good'. I was surprised by what I learned when I came here after leaving the Dursleys, but I can't deny that there is a lot of proof of Dumbledore not being as upstanding as everyone seems to think he is. I mean the goblins have records that he's made some questionable transactions with the Potter Estate, and I have the proof from the heritage test that he took me from my real parents. There is enough evidence to actually bring charges against him for kidnapping, embezzlement and fraud, but so many people look up to him as a leader it would be handing Wizarding Britain to Voldemort on a platter if Dumbledore was brought before the courts.”

“So what are you going to do?” asked George.

“I'm going to leave England and try to find my real parents. According to the heritage test I'm actually Japanese. My Father's name is Urahara Kisuke, and my Mother's name is Shihōin Yoruichi. Griphook has already started sending out inquiries. It's also been determined that I've got a whole lot of bindings, blocks and glamours on me so right now a team of goblin physicians are working on setting me to rights. After they're done with me I'm probably going to have to relearn basic things like how to walk. Ragnok mentioned that because of what Dumbledore did when he denied me my heritage and placed me with the Dursleys Gringotts is willing to offer me classes so I can handle being the heir to both the Potter and Black Estates.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mount Etna - Active Volcano located in Italy.
> 
> Reiryoku = Spiritual Energy, only souls possessing this energy have the ability to see spirits in the Living World (other than in Wizarding areas), have need for food in Soul Society, have the ability to manifest and use Kido, or become Shinigami.


	5. Tea Stains and Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gringotts peals away the Headmaster's mask over Harry, and Dumbledore finds that he may have lost track of his 'weapon'.

George and Fred left Gringotts for the Burrow after their discussion with Harry. Because of the destruction of their shop the twins had lost most of their belongings, all they had left were the clothes on their backs and their wands. It was a good thing that they knew that they would always be welcomed home with open arms by their Mum. Harry's revelations had given them a lot to think about concerning Dumbledore and how things were going in Wizarding England.

“What'cha think Forge, should we let him go all alone?” Fred asked his twin as they walked to the Burrow from an apparition point in Ottery St. Catchpole.

George shook his head, “Not gonna happen Gred, especially once Mum hears about it. You know she's all but adopted him, and with Ron and Gin-Gin still in school and underage the only ones of the family available are us and maybe Bill.”

“Bill?”

“Yeah, after all can you really see the Director not making sure that such an important client was protected while he searched?”

“Ah, you've a point there. So, how do you suggest we break the news to Mum and Dad?”

“I think we'll have to wait until Mum's had her chance to smother us a little. Then we can ask Dad to meet with us out in his workshop. We'll tell him and let him figure out how to approach Mum.”

“Good choice, now let's get back so they know we're alright.”

With plans made they hurried the rest of the way home. As they expected Molly smothered them with concern for a while before feeding them a Weasley feast. Once things had calmed the twins were able to meet with their Dad in his workshop where they broke the news that Harry had shared with them. Arthur then surprised the duo by letting the pair know that Molly had been approached by Griphook concerning the unauthorized creation of bank accounts for her, Ron and Ginny. Once she had proven that the Weasleys were not involved in setting up the accounts, Griphook had let her know that Dumbledore was responsible and had been using Potter funds to make deposits to them. Fred and George could hardly imagine what kind of effect that sort of news would have on their overprotective Mum, but their Dad did say that he'd managed to convince her to not send several Howlers to the Headmaster. They all sighed, knowing that for the moment Dumbledore was essentially untouchable. Albus had to remain in his positions of power, because the English Wizarding World wouldn't survive the disruption caused by bringing the old wizard up on charges.

In the end they decided that Ron and Ginny should also be kept out of it. Ron because he had a hard time keeping secrets, and was prone to strong fits of jealousy against those he perceived as being better off, like Harry. While for Ginny their reasons weren't as strong, Arthur and the twins knew she could keep secrets, but they weren't comfortable with letting her know straight out while they kept the information from Ron. All three admitted that if Ginny wanted to know what was going on with Harry she had her own means of finding out and she knew enough to keep it quietly away from Ron's fiery temper.

Another factor that weighed on their decision to keep this information from the two youngest Weasleys came from the fact that Ron and Ginny were still recovering from the Ministry fiasco back at the end of the school year. No one could tell them what kind of effect the attack on Ron, by the vat of brains, would have over time. The only noticeable effect so far was that Ron seemed to be slightly less impulsive. For Ginny, she had quite a bit of the polish stripped off of her mental image of 'the Great Harry Potter' now that she'd seen him in action. Ginny still admired and respected Harry, but her attitude was much more realistic.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

For Haruto the next several days passed in a hazy whirlwind of treatments, pain and sleep. By the end of it Haruto was confined to bed. As Bill had predicted, the large amount of change his body had gone through as the spells, blocks and glamours were removed had robbed Haruto of the ability to walk, or even move much on his own. Essentially Haruto was a completely new person, the release of the blocks and the spells connected to his magical core had triggered the full release of Haruto's Reiryoku which blended and fused with what was left of his magical core. The final release of Haruto's spiritual energy sent a shock wave across the room knocking Bill and the Goblin physicians to their knees. Inside his head Haruto felt something finally click into place, this was the power he remembered feeling the day he'd fought the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, the energy that felt more natural to him than his magic. Taking a deep breath Haruto focused on what he had learned from his Zanpakuto, pulling this energy back into himself and calming it. He knew that he was successful when the others in the room began picking themselves off of the floor.

“Sorry about that,” Haruto murmured wearily, “I didn't know.”

Bill looked at the young man on the bed with a wary eye, “That didn't feel like magic. Harry, do you know what that was?”

Haruto shook his head weakly, “No, but I feel like I just know how to control how much of it flows out. I think it must be related to Shinigami being different than wizards.”

Bill nodded and looked at the physicians, they gave Haruto a thorough physical exam and then summoned a couple of orderlies to wheel the young man back to his room. By the time they were moving down the hallway, Haruto was deeply asleep.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Dumbledore dropped his teacup, not reacting as it shattered at his feet and sent a spray of scalding tea to douse his slippers. His eyes stared unseeing at the shelf that held a now smoking silver instrument. Moments before the apparatus had surged into frantic motion, let out a high pitched whistle and then burst into flames. This had been the last monitor Dumbledore had attached to Harry Potter, and now it was a smoldering pile of twisted metal. Albus was not willing to accept the most obvious reason for the instrument's malfunction was because Harry Potter had been slain, the boy was too lucky. Also the instrument had suffered damage last spring when Harry's temper had lashed out after the Headmaster had told him of the prophesy. Therefore, this was more apt to be caused by some undetected earlier damage. Once he had justified the event to his satisfaction, Dumbledore became aware of his tea soaked slippers and the broken cup. With a couple waves of his wand he had things set to rights. The Headmaster settled behind his desk to work on his never ending paperwork, while considering what other avenues he could use to locate the young man he had groomed to be the hero of the Wizarding World.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

When Haruto woke, he looked about the room. It appeared that he'd been transferred back to the room he'd been staying in originally. He slowly began to flex his arms and legs, feeling stiff and painfully weak. A part of his mind wondered what he looked like now, so many of the final layer of spells being removed had been attached to his appearance that the physicians hadn't been able to let him know beforehand what he would look like when it was over. In his mind he had a general idea of what the average Japanese person looked like, and thought that it wouldn't be that much of an adjustment. However, that was before a lock of his hair caught his eye. Slowly he brought up a trembling hand and tugged on the lock of hair, to assure himself that it was attached to his scalp. Feeling that it was indeed attached to his head he stared at it. He was blond, not the bright white of a Malfoy, or the kind of 'dirty blond' of Luna Lovegood, his hair was more ashen, a pale grayish gold. This was certainly not what he expected when he'd been told that his heritage was Japanese. Haruto then began a slow examination of the rest of his body, looking closely at his hands and arms, his legs and feet and the other parts of his body that he could see without a mirror. His skin was still pale, but not as light as it had been and it had a somewhat 'caramel' tone, his fingers were now long and slender, but did not give him the impression of being weak. He traced his fingers across his face, but he couldn't tell if much had changed since it continued to feel like his face from the inside. One thing he could tell, as he ran his fingers across his scalp, was that his hair was tamer, but it still didn't lay flat.

“Would you like a mirror?” Bill's voice asked from over near the door. Haruto jumped at the sound, yelping as his muscles complained at the sudden demand for movement.

Bill snickered for a moment before sobering, “Sorry, I thought you knew I was here.”

Bill entered the room and picked up a hand mirror from the desk as he approached the bed, “I'll tell you Haruto, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I'd never connect you with Harry Potter.”

“Eh?” Haruto whispered, his voice failing him. Bill offered him a drink of water from a cup and Haruto cleared his throat once the liquid soothed away the dryness.

“You don't look anything like Harry Potter now. I think you could walk down the middle of Diagon Alley and nobody would look twice. Remember how I told you about some of the spells being attached to your magical core?”

“Yeah, you said that those would be the hardest to remove because they tricked my magic into believing that they belonged.” Haruto replied, his voice growing stronger and sounding slightly strange to his ear. It was slightly deeper and had a resonance that hadn't been there before.

Bill nodded, “That's right, and those were the spells that affected your appearance the most. According to the readings that the physicians took while the spells were removed, you've grown about six inches in height and gained about a stone in muscle and bone weight. As you've noticed your hair is now blond, you don't need your glasses and your eyes are a somewhere between a gold and a hazel brown.”

“Really?” Haruto said as he reached out for the mirror Bill was holding. Bill relinquished the mirror and then helped hold it in front of Haruto's face so the young man could examine his new appearance. Haruto saw that his face hadn't changed its shape too much, it was just a little different than what he was used to. It was the change in his eyes that he found to be the most striking. Those that peered out at him from the mirror's reflection reminded Haruto a little of Madame Hooch's eyes, but where hers gave the feeling of being stared at by a hawk or some other bird of prey, Haruto felt that his eyes gave more of an impression of being looked at by one of the great cats. Continuing his investigation of his new appearance he examined his nose, mouth, chin and finally his hair. Haruto came to the conclusion that the face in the mirror was a fairly handsome fellow, and that Bill was right, there was no way that he would be mistaken as having once been Harry Potter.

Haruto grinned, “Even the scar on my forehead is gone.”

Bill nodded, “Yep, that was a tricky bit of work. I'm sure you've been told that it was a curse scar?”

“Yeah, Dumbledore said that I'd have it forever.”

“Well that all depends on what kind of curse formed it in the first place, or if there's something else that is causing a lasting effect. When I examined you I found that your scar was infused with a foreign magical energy. I spoke to the physicians about it and they felt that if we could rid you of that, the scar could be healed. Surprisingly in the end it was your own power that drove out the contaminating foreign magic. When we stripped the last block off of your magical core and released whatever that other power source is inside you, the scar on your forehead emitted a stream of white sparks and then healed smoothly.”

“Heh, I wonder what happened,” Haruto mused, planning on bringing up the incident during his next conversation with his Zanpakuto.

Bill continued, “You should also know that your magical signature is now completely different from any other wizard. From what the physicians told me, you have a large well of power, but it can't be classified as a magical core anymore. Considering this change they have some doubts that a wand will work for you and Griphook has already added classes in wandless magic to your curriculum.”

“I wonder if Dumbledore knows...” Haruto mused.

“Well, according to Dad he knows you're missing, and he has given most of the Order of the Phoenix orders to be on the look out for you. The ministry has kept him very busy, there have been meetings of the full Wizengamot almost every day since Voldemort appeared at the Ministry, so Dumbledore hasn't had a lot of time to search for you himself. Fudge has been ranting about the necessity for increases in security measures, but most of the Minister's proposals are being shot down because they seem to be geared at giving him increased security at the cost of the general Wizarding public.

“I know that the Headmaster had several kinds of tracers on you. We stripped off several that monitored your health. We tried to leave those until last, since I was sure that you didn't want to tip your hand that you were getting out from under Dumbledore's thumb. When we took that final block off, it blew away the remaining spells, so I would expect that if any of Dumbledore's tracer spells were still active they would have triggered whatever alarms he had set. However, I don't think that the headmaster will be able to make the connection immediately.”

“Eh, why not?”

“If, like you told Fred and George, you 'blew up' the headmaster's office last spring, you probably damaged a lot of his monitors. Even if the Headmaster repaired them he might doubt the readings. I also think that Dumbledore would have a difficult time trying to reconnect his tracers, unless he found you and reestablished them personally. That is where we have the advantage now. Like I said a moment ago, whatever power you have now doesn't even register to our instruments as 'magic', let alone 'Harry Potter's magic'. So, it is highly doubtful that Dumbledore, or the Ministry for that matter, would be able to use any tracking spells that worked off of your old magical signature to find you. Add to that the dramatic change in your appearance and I think you can feel secure in the knowledge that you are a completely different person than you were when you arrived.”

“So, for all intents and purposes Harry Potter is now dead?”

“That's about the truth of it. Griphook and Director Ragnok made sure that your emancipation paperwork was filed on your birthday and that the contents of the Potter and Black accounts were transferred to Urahara Haruto as you had discussed. They also wrote up a will for Harry that legally transfers the Black and Potter accounts to Urahara Haruto to make sure that the transfers can't be disputed by the either the English or the Magical Ministry. Then they set up a 'ghost' account for Harry Potter, to make it look like he still exists. They've piled loads of security on the transactions, so even if Dumbledore and the Ministry have the appropriate clearance it will take some time to unravel it all. The Director thinks that this will keep everyone off of your trail for a while.” Bill chuckled at the memory of his meeting with Griphook and Ragnok, “You'll have to finalize some things with your signature, when you're able, but everything is set. The Director and Griphook both wanted me to express their thanks in allowing them to take part in such a stimulating challenge.”

Haruto grinned, imagining what kinds of things could be thought up by a pair of crafty goblins, then he yawned widely and slumped back into the pillows, “If you don't mind Bill, I'm going to get some more sleep.”

“Good choice, your physical therapy will start in the morning. I'll bring dinner by later.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory recovery and training chapter. A bit short, but we cover quite a bit of time.

Over the next couple of weeks, Haruto developed a brand new appreciation for magic. A day after he'd woken from having the last of the spells, blocks and glamours removed from his body Haruto began physical therapy and the classes he'd been offered on how to become a proper heir to two major houses. Since they didn't know how much time it would take to locate Haruto's real parents the classes were augmented by special memory spells, healing and strengthening potions and other enchantments. While magic couldn't teach Haruto the lessons, it could help him retain the knowledge. Haruto also found that he had an easier time remembering what his instructors were telling him and wondered if it was because he was no longer being restricted by the blocks and glamours, or if his earlier difficulties were a result of his history of neglect from living with the Dursleys. Haruto didn't spend much time thinking about this, he was finding everything that he was learning to be far too fascinating to spend his energy wallowing in 'what ifs'. His instructors were impressed with the speed Haruto picked up the knowledge they imparted, and they enjoyed getting into discussions with him as he often voiced ideas that opened up new avenues of debate and made them think of new ways that magic could be used.

By the end of the first month Haruto had begun combat training under Griphook who had been very happy to be included in Haruto's recovery. Under the guidance of his account manager, Haruto grew strong and skilled in both hand to hand combat and swordplay. Griphook had been mildly surprised at Haruto's request to learn how to fight with his fists and handle a sword, since most of the other wizards he'd worked with felt that such things were archaic or idle pastimes and not worth their while. Griphook found that Haruto was an able pupil, eager to learn and not put off by a bit of hard work. After a bit of introductory work Griphook created a training program that would give Haruto a good grounding in Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, and Tae Kwon Do for his hand to hand arts, as well as Fencing and Kendo for his sword arts.

During his evening meditations, Haruto went over everything he learned each day and made sure that his thoughts were well organized. In his inner world he would practice and spar with his Zanpakuto and hold long conversations about what he was learning. He learned more about his Reiryoku and some of the things it could do, like making his skin harder and letting him move with high speed. Haruto learned how to pull it all inside himself so that he could mask his presence, how letting it flow could be felt by the people around him, how to focus it in certain parts of his body to make himself stronger and faster, and how to reveal it where it could strike fear into his enemies.

During his training, the goblins and Haruto also discovered that because of the changes in his power Haruto could no longer use a wand. All the ones he'd picked up and tried to cast a spell with had either done nothing or exploded spectacularly. So, Haruto put a lot of effort into mastering wandless casting. It didn't take long before Haruto could gather an intense ball of energy into his hand which showed that he had a lot of potential. Haruto found that he could easily shield himself with this energy, however whenever he tried to force this energy to shape itself into the spells he knew, it balked and the spell either fizzled out or went off with unexpected results. Haruto had been thoroughly surprised when he had managed to change the color of everything in his training room, including himself and his goblin instructor, to a lurid combination of eggplant purple and neon green when he was trying to cast a simple 'accio' summoning spell. It had taken Bill four hours to reverse the damage, although at least an hour of that was spent by Bill trying and failing to get over the giggles he'd been struck with upon seeing the state of the room and its occupants. Thankfully Haruto discovered, through a bit of trial and error after his failures at spell casting, that the changes in his power didn't affect things like port-keys, floo travel or side-along Apparation. Haruto was sure that once he was permitted to leave Gringotts he would find other things that he'd need to work around because of the shift in his power, but he could deal with that when it happened.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Dumbledore was more than a little concerned, school had started and Harry Potter was no where to be found. The press had descended like a flock of vultures the day after the sorting when it was discovered that Harry had not arrived at Hogwarts for the school year. Now Dumbledore had to deal with daily requests for interviews, an uneasy student population, and a frantic Minister of Magic. For all the people now actively searching for Harry Potter, and Dumbledore was certain that Voldemort's forces were looking as well, there was not a single shred of evidence pointing to his whereabouts. Albus had even taken out 'missing persons' advertisements in the muggle news to try and drum up some clues. Deep in his heart Dumbledore began to fear that they would never find Harry, and he would be left dealing with Voldemort and his minions alone. He sighed, he was getting too old for all this.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Fred and George decided that until things quieted down with Voldemort and the Death Eaters it would be better for their business if they focused on their mail-order enterprise. This would allow them to build up capital while keeping their risks low. Additionally it would allow them to move anywhere Haruto's search took them. After discovering Harry at the bank, they'd stayed in touch with the young man often meeting up for lunch either in Diagon Alley or in London. Not knowing just how Dumbledore had found him as an infant, but realizing that using any of his parent's surnames could bring unwanted attention, Haruto introduced himself around Diagon Alley as Haruto Honda, feeling that the name of a common mundane car manufacturer would be generic enough not to raise too many suspicions.

Haruto also found that it wasn't hard to put thoughts of Hogwarts out of his head. His classes under the goblins were often grueling, needing long hours of study and practice, leaving little time to be concerned with what his old friends were doing. Occasionally he would think about what was going on with Ron or Hermione, but he got regular updates from Fred, George and Bill. They had all decided that it was too risky for Haruto to contact Ron, Ginny or Hermione while they were at Hogwarts. The castle was Dumbledore's domain and there would be too much chance for word to get around that Harry Potter was now Urahara Haruto. Until he had completed his search for his real parents, Haruto's old friends would just have to wait and wonder. Bill had let him know that while Haruto was emancipated and had some protection under Wizarding Law it would be much stronger if he had additional family to back it up.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Fall passed into Winter and the days were lengthening into Spring when the Goblins' search for Haruto's parents finally caught a break. A teller in the Tokyo branch of Gringotts happened to overhear a couple of wizards talking in the lobby as they waited for their turn. The first mentioned to his friend that he'd been able to regularly find a small supply of a fairly rare potions ingredient at a small out of the way shop in Karakura Town. The friend asked about the shop, and the first wizard thought for a moment before telling their friend that it was named 'Urahara Shoten' and carried a variety of mundane items as well. The friend then asked if it was worth the trip and the first wizard had responded that although Karakura Town had something of a reputation as being a particularly dangerous place for wizards, and the shop itself held somewhat eccentric hours, the quality of the shop's supply made it well worth the effort.

The goblin teller filed away the conversation, it was always good to know where the local wizards were interested in doing business. Often such shops became good places for investments, or became clients needing account managers. The teller didn't think much about what he'd just learned until the following morning when he heard the day's announcements from his shift leader. One of the announcements had been a reminder about the search based out of the London branch concerning the needed discovery of Urahara Haruto's parents. At the end of the morning briefing the teller relayed his overheard conversation to the shift leader, who then decided to send a couple of young goblin scouts to Karakura Town to see if they could locate the shop and verify the owner's name.

The reports from the scouts confirmed the presence of the 'Urahara Shoten' in Karakura Town, but they also discovered that the shop itself was covered in several layers of protection which kept the young scouts from entering the premises. Unable to enter, the scouts couldn't verify who owned the shop. However, they were able to determine that the energy that kept them out was not based on either wards or magic, at least not of any type encountered until now.

It didn't take long for the Tokyo branch report to make its way back to London, where Haruto was finishing up his course of intensive study under Griphook and the other goblins. Haruto felt much more capable, now he had the skills and confidence that would ensure his survival even if he never found his real parents. His instructors had been more than pleased by his work. Haruto's Gift of Tongues had allowed him to pick up not just Japanese, but Gobbledygook and several other languages. They discovered that Haruto had a keen mind and easily became a skilled estate manager with an excellent sense for investment and business dealings. Griphook was confident that Haruto could now handle any physical confrontation he might face, and was pleased with his progress in swordsmanship. Haruto's instructors in wandless and wordless magic knew that his control was good, and that he certainly held enough raw power, but they were a little disappointed that their results were not better. It seemed that the energy Haruto now held and manipulated just wasn't very compatible with either Wizarding or Goblin magic. Haruto could use pre-enchanted items and cast simple Wizarding spells and Goblin cantrips, but anything above what was taught most second or third year students held an inordinately high chance of dramatic failure.


	7. Welcome to Karakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a couple of quick things:
> 
> "(Text text text)" = Words in language not common to the geographical area.
> 
> We start with our introduction to the Bleach Cast in this chapter. For dialog I do tend to work with the Subtitle translations - I don't much care for the dubbing on this series.

The group traveling to Japan quickly made arrangements. With the help of Griphook and a Gringotts agent, Haruto was able to purchase a modest home in the town of Karakura. Haruto, Fred, George and Bill packed up their belongings in custom made trunks that were shaped like mundane suitcases. The four men had decided that the best way to stay off of Dumbledore's radar was to travel by mundane means. They designed their trip and chose and to take their time, stopping off at a few holiday locations in the Mediterranean, Egypt, and India along the way. It would take them about three weeks to make the trip, placing their arrival in Japan during the second week of June.

As they arrived in Karakura the group was met by a Wizard representative from the Tokyo branch of Gringotts who escorted them to their new home. The agent made sure that the house was fully stocked with housewares and food so that they would not be bothered with suddenly having to locate a grocer while they were still unfamiliar with the town. The agent also supplied them with several copies of the city map, the local bus and train schedules and a pile of brochures about local attractions and events.

As they were discussing the area the agent warned everyone that Karakura town had a bit of a reputation among the local Wizarding population as being somewhat dangerous. The people of the town appeared to be highly sensitive to magic, often perceiving spells when the effects of a casting should be invisible. Also any magic performed in the area had a higher chance for failure, or unexpected results, so they were cautioned to keep their spell casting to a minimum outside of the house. Inside the house they were protected by the wards set up by Gringotts at the time the property was purchased, but it still would be a good idea to keep a low profile.

In addition to the strange way that magic behaved in the area of Karakura, the agent warned the wizards that there had been several reported sightings of strange vicious creatures that would hunt down any wizard that they could find and eat them. The agent told them that reports of the creatures were found throughout Japan, but in Karakura there seemed to be a fairly high concentration of them. The creatures came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but all had two characteristic features, their faces were covered by white bone masks and they had visible holes completely through their bodies, usually somewhere on their torsos. Haruto immediately identified the creatures to himself as 'Hollows', but didn't interrupt and continued to listen to the agent's description. He needed to know what the local Wizards knew about them. According to the agent it wasn't much, the creatures appeared to have some way of masking their presence from the mundane population and wouldn't hesitate to plow through a crowd of people to get to a wizard they were hunting. Any damage the creatures caused to surrounding property and people were explained in the news as gas explosions or minor earthquakes. From the reports the only defense when out in the open was to portkey or apparate at least a kilometer away from the hunting creature. When they asked if they would be safe in their home the agent informed them that he had verified reports that other houses protected by similar ward schemes were found to be safe.

The agent did share that he'd seen a report that the creatures could be disabled with strong blasting, fire or lightning based spells and that a strong Protego spell could shield against the creature's physical attacks, but he didn't have any information about any sure way of destroying them. Haruto and the others thanked him for the information and the warnings, the agent handed Haruto a folder with copies of the property information, bill of sale and deed. Then he turned to Bill and handed him a thick envelope before saying farewell and using a port-key to return to his office.

While Bill read the contents of the letter the agent had given him, George and the others explored the house and chose their bedrooms. Since it was almost noon Haruto then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. He was glad that his coursework under the Goblins had included some Japanese culinary arts, so he knew how to use all the appliances and tools he found and he knew how to prepare the ingredients he found in the cupboards and refrigerator. When the food was ready and the table set he called the others to come and eat.

“Wow Haruto, this is really great!” George exclaimed after eating several bites of everything.

“Thanks, but don't expect me to fix every meal. I like to cook when I have a choice in the menu, but cooking every meal? I don't think so. I had enough of that living with the Dursleys.”

“We wouldn't expect you to,” Bill assured him, “but you might want to teach us some of these dishes and how to use some of the stuff in the kitchen, if you don't want to find something accidentally destroyed.”

“That I can do.” Haruto agreed with a chuckle.

“So Haruto, what did you think about what the agent told us?” Fred asked.

“Well it was interesting. I wonder if my Dad will know more about those creatures the agent was talking about. From what that agent said the description sort of matches a creature from Japanese legends called a 'Hollow'. They are a sort of spiritual monster that craves souls, a little like a Dementor, but in the stories Hollows just kill their victims they don't do anything like the Dementor's kiss.”

“It would make sense that he'd know about them if he and his family have lived here long enough to establish the shop that provided us our lead.” Bill replied.

“Oh? Do you have more information about it?” Haruto asked.

Bill nodded, “The letter the agent passed me included the address and information that indicates that the shop has been around for at least fifty years. The letter also informed me that I'm expected to report in at the Tokyo Branch of Gringotts tomorrow for my employee orientation.”

“Well, Fred, George and I will start getting used to the area and maybe we'll try looking for Dad's shop.”

“If you're going to be heading out, I'll make you each an emergency portkey to here before I leave.”

“I don't think you'll have to do that Bill. We all still have our Gringotts portkeys, and the Tokyo branch is the closest one. If we get in trouble we can activate them.”

Bill nodded, “That's a better idea. Then if you're injured or anything you'll be able to get help and the bank will let me know where you are.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

“Boss, this Gikongan is going to be trouble.”

“Oh?”

Tessai handed over the packing list he'd been looking at. Kisuke read it over and sighed, “Yare yare, we'll have to do something about this right away. Otherwise, who knows what it'll do?”

Ten minutes later they were out the door, ready to comb through Karakura to find the 'damaged merchandise' mistakenly sold to Rukia. The group would walk for a few blocks, then Kisuke would pause to sense the Reiatsu around him, after a minute or two they would move on. Near the riverside park Kisuke came to a sudden halt and looked at Tessai, his grey eyes peering out from under the brim of his striped hat. Tessai glowered for a moment before giving a nod and shepherding Jinta and Ururu into some nearby shrubs. Urahara Kisuke stood at the side of the path, waiting. Up ahead he could feel the approach of three unfamiliar sources of strong Reiatsu. He could tell right off that they weren't Hollows, but they didn't feel like Shinigami either.

It was a couple of minutes before Kisuke identified three young men as the source of what he was feeling. The leader of the group was slightly shorter than the other two and Kisuke could see that he had ash blond hair of a tint similar to his own. The other two were quite obviously twins and had bright red hair that Kisuke had only seen matched by Kurosaki Isshin's oldest son Ichigo. The three young men were engaged in a lively conversation, gesturing at various sights and speaking in cheerful voices. It took a moment before Kisuke recognized the language as English. 

By this time the trio had almost walked past. Kisuke stepped into their path confronting them. Just as he'd hoped, his sudden move caused the young men's Reiatsu to spike, but what he hadn't expected was for the three men to immediately assume positions of defense, with him viewed as the threat.

The four of them stood there silently, examining each other for a while before one of the twins spoke up, “(Um..., Haruto, you know that guy we're supposed to be looking for?)”

The blond answered, “(Yeah?)”

“(I think he just found us,)” the second twin answered.

The blond took a look at Kisuke, blinking slowly and giving Urahara a close examination. He muttered a bit to himself, too low for Kisuke to make out the words, before clearing his throat and switching from English to Japanese, “Pardon me sir, would you happen to know a Urahara Kisuke?”

Kisuke peered out from under the brim of his hat, it was a very curious question to be asked first off, and it was one that he felt demanded an answer...eventually, “Why do you want to know?”

“We were told that he lived near here and I believe that I have some very important information for him.”

“Oh?” Kisuke asked as he snapped open his fan to hide his curious smile.

The young man hesitated for a moment before coming to a decision, then he spoke with deliberation, “Yes, you see I've recently discovered that there is a strong possibility that I am Urahara-sama's son.”

Kisuke blinked at the young man, stunned into immobility at the lad's claim. Surely he would have remembered having a son. For a Shinigami to have a child was an event so rare that each one was treated as a cherished treasure. That he could be a father, especially here in the human world and not remember was beyond belief. Almost without thinking he took the cane in his hand, focused a bit of his Reiryoku, and popped the boy in the forehead with the end of it.

What happened next shocked Kisuke to his core. One of the twins grabbed the blond's collapsing body, the second twin leapt forward and had him in an arm lock so fast he thought it was Shunpo, but Kisuke only had eyes for the newly revealed Shihakusho clad soul who had tumbled out of the blond's body onto the path.

The young man hissed as he rubbed his forehead, “Ow, what did you do that for?” The boy looked down at himself and then up at where his body was being held, “Just a sec, how did you do this?” he snapped, glaring at Kisuke as he picked himself off the ground and gestured at his black Shihakusho, his hands coming to rest at his waist, one gripping the sheath and the other wrapping around the silk bound hilt of a Zanpakuto.

A rustling of the shrubbery announced the arrival of Tessai, and allowed Kisuke a moment to gather his composure. “Mah mah, now this is quite unexpected,” Kisuke said calmly. “I must say you've honestly surprised me.”

The blond gave a look to the twin who held Kisuke's arms, “(George, let him go. He hasn't hurt me.)”

“(You sure?)” George answered as he looked back and forth at the two Harutos in front of him.

The young Shinigami nodded, “(Yeah, I'll be fine. This has happened to me before.)”

The twin holding Kisuke slowly released his grip and moved back, bumping into Tessai. George took one look at the scowling face and crossed arms of the towering man and hurried back to stand next to his brother. The young Shinigami looked at Kisuke and gestured at himself again, “Right, now how did you do this to me?”

“Ah, perhaps this is not the best place or time to explain.” Kisuke admitted with a sigh. “I'm afraid you caught us in the midst of an important errand. I would be happy to explain things to you later. You can find me at the Urahara Shoten.”

“I don't think so. I'm not going to let you out of my sight until I have some answers. Since we don't have any pressing business, we'll just accompany you on your errand.” the young Shinigami replied.

Kisuke looked at the young man and nodded when he saw the determination in the young man's eyes, “Very well, since you will be accompanying me I suppose introductions are in order. I am Urahara Kisuke.”

“Urahara Haruto, and these are my friends Weasley Fred and George.” Haruto replied before moving to where Fred held his body and slipping back into it quickly.

Straightening up Haruto rolled his shoulders, Fred shook out his hands, “(Haruto, warn someone before doing that. It felt like I was trying to hold onto a corpse.)”

Haruto gave Fred a grin, “(Well you were. How was I supposed to know that my Dad would knock me out of my body when I told him I was his son?)”

Fred cringed and grimaced, Kisuke chuckled and hid his grin behind his fan, “Well then, you have introduced yourselves it is only right that I also introduce the others I have assisting me in my errand. The fellow behind me is Tsukabishi Tessai, and I have two others with me. Jinta! Ururu! you can come out now.”

The shrubbery rustled and the others from the Urahara Shoten emerged. Indicating the red-haired boy carrying an oversized iron bat, Kisuke introduced him as Hanakari Jinta and the dark-haired girl carrying a long, cloth wrapped package as Tsumugiya Ururu. Kisuke explained that they were searching Karakura for a piece of damaged merchandise. Haruto nodded and everyone began to move, the three new members falling into place between Jinta, Ururu and Tessai. 

The group traveled through the park and Kisuke continued searching for the Reiatsu signature of the mod soul mistakenly sold to Rukia. If Haruto, Fred and George thought it strange that Kisuke would walk for a ways, stop for a minute and then continue they made no comment. After a bit Kisuke seemed to pick up a trail and the group began moving swiftly toward one of Karakura's primary schools. Once inside Kisuke led them all to the roof, and motioned them back as he approached two identical red heads, one dressed in a torn and slightly bloodied white shirt and khaki slacks and the other dressed in a black outfit very similar to what Haruto wore when he had been knocked out of his body in the park. The pair was looking out over the school yard as Kisuke approached them.

“Yare, yare... Here I finally found you and you're all battered up.” Kisuke spoke, causing the two to turn and face him, “Looks like all the equipment we prepared was for nothing.” 

Kisuke went up to the one with the white shirt, raised his cane and, just like he had to Haruto, popped him in the forehead. However, instead of knocking out another person wearing black, a small yellow-green sphere exited the back of the young man's head. Both the body and the sphere fell back to land heavily on the roof. The young man in black turned and stared at them with a scowling expression on his face.

“Huh?” exclaimed the one in black, “Wha-?”

“Collection completed.” Kisuke said as he picked up the little sphere, and began to toss and catch it. “Let's go home everyone.”

Jinta bristled, “But I thought I'd finally be able to fight it out after all this time.”

“Wait!” the red head stammered, “Wait a minute. What are you going to do with that?”

Kisuke looked back at the boy, “Do with it?... Destroy it.”

Having Kisuke answer him directly seemed to shock the young man, “Y-You can see me? Who are you guys?”

Kisuke paused, “Well, how can I answer that...?”

Suddenly another hand caught the small sphere that Kisuke had been playing with, it was a dark haired young woman who snapped, “A greedy merchant.”

Haruto was impressed with how the young woman had suddenly appeared, he'd been keeping an eye on the red head with the massive sword strapped across his back. Kisuke's head quickly turned to the dark haired woman, “Hey, you can't take that.”

“What's this Urahara? Do you take back goods you've sold to people without giving them a refund?”

Kisuke's face fell, Haruto could see that his Dad wasn't comfortable answering that question, but he grudgingly admitted, “Oh, well, I guess I'll refund you then.”

“That's not necessary, I'm satisfied with this item. Besides, you guys work outside the laws of the Soul Society. You're not really obligated to collect these things, are you?”

Kisuke shrugged “Don't blame me if you run into trouble. We're going to be hiding out for a while Kuchiki-san.” Kisuke said seriously, addressing the dark haired girl.

“Don't worry, I've gotten used to trouble lately.”

The girl walked over to the red head in the black Shihakusho, Urahara motioned to the rest of them and they left the roof. The group left the school and walked down the street with Kisuke leading them to the Urahara Shoten. Once inside Tessai excused himself to the kitchen to prepare some tea, Jinta and Ururu went to put their things away and Kisuke invited the others back into the living area behind the store. They settled on cushions around a low round table.

“So, tell me about what led you here.” Kisuke said lowly while peering at Haruto from under the brim of his hat.

“First can you tell me, do you know a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore?”

“Yes, I've known him for many years.”

“Have you seen him lately?”

“No, he hasn't visited,” Kisuke closed his eyes in thought, “I think I last saw him about five years ago.”

“Hm, I was hoping that he'd already checked for me here. It could be that the thought of looking for me here hasn't occurred to him yet.” Haruto mused, “Kisuke-san, has Dumbledore ever contacted you outside of his occasional visits?”

“No, I never know when he'll show up.” Kisuke admitted, “Is this going to be a problem?”

“Possibly,” Haruto admitted, “I know that he'll be looking for me.”

“Oh?”

Haruto sighed, considering where he could start telling his Dad about his history with the Wizarding World. Then he realized that he wasn't sure if his Dad even knew about magic, and decided to start there. “Kisuke-san, can you believe in magic?”

“Eh? You mean like pulling rabbits out of hats and that sort of thing?” Kisuke asked, hiding his face behind his fan.

“No, more like the manipulation of energy that can defy logic and science, kind of magic.”

“Well...I did knock your soul out of your body back in the park, what do you think?” Kisuke said with a smile.

Haruto grinned back, “That you did. Okay, the reason I asked if you believed in magic is because Albus Dumbledore is a Wizard, a very powerful one. He is part of a hidden society that practices and lives by magic. In England this society is in a state of civil war and Dumbledore is considered to be the leader of the 'good guys'. He has a strong vision about what is for the 'greatest good' in the Wizarding World and in his efforts to advance his vision he took me away from my biological parents as an infant. He placed me with a Wizarding family and did his best to mold me into the 'weapon' with which the 'light' could win the civil war. Dumbledore made sure that all the Wizards and Witches in England knew me on sight, and placed their hopes on me being the only person able to defeat the leader of the 'dark'. So far I've faced and defeated the leader of the 'dark', a man known as Lord Voldemort, five times. However Voldemort is also a powerful Wizard and he took measures to ensure his continued existence.”

“Is this the same Lord Voldemort that was active about sixteen years ago?” Kisuke asked, the unusual name jogging his memory and reminding him of Albus asking him once if he would lend his aid in ridding the world of the dark Wizard.

Haruto nodded, “The very same. I defeated him the first time when I was a little over a year old. What happened then caused him to retreat until I turned eleven. I've faced him almost every year since then, and each time he's been stronger or had the backing of his followers. Last June I faced him again, and I lost my Godfather in the fight. Then around the middle of last July I discovered that the people I had always assumed were my parents were not.”

Kisuke gave a knowing look at the young man across the table. He knew something about the Wizarding World, courtesy of Dumbledore himself, and it troubled him that apparently this young man who claimed to be his son would be embroiled in their conflict. It would be something to ask about later, right now he needed to know how the young man had tracked him down. “Ah, but that still doesn't answer my question. What led you here?”

“When I found out that I was not related to the people widely considered to be my parents I also found out what the names of my real parents were. With that, and a bit of informed guesswork, I was able to hire some investigators to locate you.”

Kisuke nodded, while he didn't openly advertise his presence, the shop's location could be found through investigation of tax rolls, or business licenses. “Very well, so if you have proof that I'm your Father, who is your Mother?”

Haruto reached into his pocket and drew out a scroll of heavy parchment, Kisuke's eyebrow raised as he realized that there was no way Haruto's pockets were big enough for the piece of parchment. Haruto caught his eye and chuckled, “Magic is a useful thing, my pockets are bigger on the inside. Here, this is a copy of the document with my heritage test results. It tells me the names of my real parents, as well as what I have inherited. I still have people searching for my Mother, but they haven't found any leads yet.”

Kisuke took the scroll and unrolled it. Since it was written in English it took him a little bit of effort to translate it. When he saw who was listed as Haruto's Mother he almost dropped it. If what this parchment said was true then she was going to kill him when she found out. While she had never made a big deal out of it, Kisuke knew that Yoruichi had always regretted not having a child of her own to raise. Now Haruto showed up nearly an adult...Yoruichi was going to go ballistic having missed out on his childhood. Kisuke read through the information on the scroll twice and then cleared his throat, “Haruto, would you mind allowing me to perform some tests to verify this information?”

“What like a DNA test?” Haruto asked.

“Yes, and a couple of others. I may need to take a couple of small samples, but nothing harmful I assure you. Aside from verifying this information, the tests will establish a base for your future training.”

“Future training?”

“Yes, even if my tests prove this document to be fake,” Kisuke raised his hand to quiet Haruto's sudden exclamation of outrage at the implication that the document wasn't true. “Even if it proves false, with what happened in the park when we met there is no doubt that you are Shinigami, and you will need training to reach your full potential.”

At that point Tessai returned from the kitchen, bearing a tray with tea and a selection of snack foods. Once everyone was served, Haruto excused himself for a few minutes to explain to his two friends what they had discussed so far.

“(Well, if there's someplace here that Dumbledore's never seen, I bet Bill could ward it and make you a safe place to hide.)” George offered.

“(Yeah, and don't forget to ask your Dad about those reports of creatures we got from the Agent when we moved in.)” Fred added.

Haruto turned back to the others, Kisuke and Tessai were sitting quietly as they waited for Haruto to finish explaining things to the twins occasionally sipping tea. “Kisuke-san, do you have a room here that you know Dumbledore has never seen?”

“Why yes, I think I do.” Kisuke answered with a growing smile, “In fact it is where we will be spending quite a bit of time during your training. Would you like to see it?”

“Please,” Haruto answered.

Kisuke stood and moved to a corner of the room. He lifted up a hidden trap door with a flourish and gestured to the revealed hole. “If you'll just make your way down?”

The ladder was long and it took several minutes for the party to reach the bottom. There they found a huge chamber, the ground looked like a desert landscape, the 'sky' was a pale blue and some kind of light source made it bright as day.

“(Wow! This is impressive. You could fit most of Hogsmeade in here.)” Fred said appreciatively while George whistled.

“(This might be bigger than my bank vault, it's pretty amazing.)” Haruto agreed and turned to face Kisuke and Tessai. Giving a respectful bow he spoke, “Kisuke-san, Tessai-san thank you for showing us this, it is quite remarkable.”

Tessai wiped his eyes, tears of appreciation falling from them, “Thank you, I'm glad that you are impressed.”

“So, Haruto-kun do you think that this will serve?” Kisuke asked with a wide grin.

“I believe it will,” Haruto answered with a similar grin forming on his face. “Would it be alright if the twins and I grabbed a little training time right now? We've been traveling for a while, and haven't had a chance to spar lately.”

“Help yourself, do you mind if Tessai and I observe your training?”

“That will be fine,” Haruto agreed and then turned to where Fred and George were headed off exploring the vast room, “(Oi! You two! Kisuke said we could do a bit of training right now if you like. You up to it?)”

“(Anytime Haruto! Bring it on!)” the twins answered simultaneously.

Kisuke and Tessai watched as Haruto threw himself at the twins. Haruto showed a strong foundation in his hand to hand fighting skills and an impressive turn of speed. It could almost be considered Shunpo, yet Kisuke knew that Haruto was not currently in his spiritual form and that limited him. Many Shinigami decried the limitations placed on the Gigai they used while interacting with the Human world, but what they didn't understand was that a Shinigami's common moves like Hakudo, Hoho and Shunpo would easily tear apart the cells that made up a Human body. Unless a Shinigami took the time to learn how to infuse their Reiryoku through the cellular structure of a Gigai, to give it additional strength and support, they wouldn't be able to access much of their usual abilities while inside one.

After watching Haruto for a while to judge his level of skill, Kisuke turned his attention to the twins. They were very good at causing distractions, and finding holes in Haruto's defenses. They attacked with a combination of both physical and ranged attacks. While at first Kisuke thought the twins were using a form of Kido, he soon saw that they were armed with wands and then he knew that the bolts of multi colored light were Wizarding spells. They were quick, but not as fast as Haruto who dodged and danced out of the way of the twins' barrage of spells. Kisuke saw that Haruto could put up some kind of shield around his body to deflect the spells cast against him by the twins, but he never saw Haruto cast any offensive spells against the twins.

“Hm, they have some skill,” rumbled Tessai, “and I can feel that they all have good levels of Reiryoku. It will take a bit of training, but I think that they could all do well with Kido.”

“Yes, I can see that, but I wonder why Haruto is not returning their spell fire.” Kisuke wondered aloud before heading into the fray. As soon as he joined in the three young men teamed up against him. When Kisuke pressed an attack against Haruto, the twins would cause a diversion to allow Haruto to slip away and then retaliate, throwing a stream of spells against Kisuke and making him dodge away. They ranged about the training room, Kisuke pursuing Haruto while trying to engage him in hand to hand combat, while the twins threw up distractions and tried to set up traps to catch Kisuke.

At the end of an hour the air in the training room was heavy with dust, several new craters littered the 'landscape' and a portion of the floor was now a swamp. Kisuke had called an end to the session and they gathered back near the base of the ladder.

“Whew, well the three of you certainly kept me on my toes. We'll have to see what other tricks you have hidden up your sleeves some other time. It's getting late, but I have a few more questions. Haruto, do you know what Reiryoku is?”

“Yes, it's spiritual energy.”

“And Reiatsu?”

“Its the pressure that Reiryoku exerts on Reishi, or spirit particles.” Haruto explained.

“How about Reiraku?”

“Spirit threads, or ribbons, a visual manifestation of of Reiatsu that can be seen by souls possessing enough Reiryoku and a high sensitivity for Reiatsu. They can be used to identify and track individuals.” Haruto answered.

“Excellent answers!” Kisuke praised, “Now, who taught you this?”

“My Zanpakuto taught me.” Haruto answered, “I've been able to communicate with him for the last four years, but I still can't hear his name.”

“Oh? and why is that?” Kisuke asked, his eyes bright under the brim of his striped hat.

“Well, we think it might have something to do with the fact that I didn't even know my own name before last July. Also, Dumbledore had placed a lot of magical spells on me to make me look like someone else, and to force my Reiryoku to act like a Wizard's magical core.”

Kisuke's eyes flashed as his Reiatsu flared, Dumbledore had bound his son's Reiryoku and forced it to flow against its nature? That was a violation of the laws of the universe itself. Dumbledore could have turned his son into a Hollow, or killed him outright...His Son! That one answer had him seething mad against the white haired Wizard. Kisuke's anger caused his Reiryoku to slash through the air, setting up a whirlwind around him, the edges of his coat snapping and popping as they were caught up in the fierce currents. In his head he heard his Zanpakuto, Benihime, cry out as her anger rose to match his own.

“Dad...please...” Haruto's quiet plea cut through the roaring in his head and Kisuke snapped his eyes to where the young man and his friends were laying prone on the ground, gasping for air. Even Tessai had been brought to his knees under the fierce Reiatsu released by Kisuke in his anger. With an effort Kisuke calmed himself and pushed his anger away. His son was with him now and he would do everything he could to keep Albus Dumbledore from getting his hands on the boy ever again.

“I am sorry, but what Albus Dumbledore did to your Reiryoku is a very serious crime. He could have killed you, or turned you into a Hollow.” Kisuke explained as he helped Haruto up from the ground and brought him into a hug.

“He could have what?” Haruto whispered, stiffening in his father's arms.

“Your Reiryoku is the energy of your soul, if you mess around with it you can corrupt it and that's part of the process that creates Hollows.” Kisuke explained, pulling back a little to look into Haruto's face, “I'm a little surprised that you are able to communicate with your Zanpakuto at all considering that Wizarding Magic and Reiryoku are so different.”

“Did you notice that while we were sparring?”

“Yes, and I could see the differences in your fighting styles. You focused almost exclusively on hand to hand attacks while Fred-san and George-san tried to keep their distance and use ranged attacks. I also learned a bit about Wizarding Magic from Dumbledore himself many years ago. There have been a few other people who have visited the shop over the years that I've been able to identify as wizards, but I haven't had much chance to study the type of energy they use in their spells.” Kisuke mused, finally disengaging from the hug he shared with Haruto, and looked at the twins who were being checked over by Tessai, “(would you two be willing to help me?)”

“(You speak English?)” the twins asked, stunned by Kisuke's question.

“(Yes, I know English and several other languages. It's kind of a requirement in my line of work.)” Kisuke answered with a smile. “(Now, before we get involved in another long discussion, let's go back up to the shop and get cleaned up. Tessai can whip up something for dinner and you can invite the other fellow you talked about? I believe you named him Bill?)”

George looked at his wristwatch, “(Yeah he's our brother, we should give him a call. He should be getting home any minute, and we didn't leave a note because we didn't think we'd be out this long.)”

“(You two really need to learn the local language,)” Haruto gently scolded the twins, “(I won't always be around to translate and its rude to assume that everyone knows English, especially since we're the foreigners here.)”

“(Hey, we are learning! Not everyone is blessed with the Gift of Tongues or has the advantage of acing a Gringotts accelerated learning course. We understood most of what you were talking about just now.)” Fred complained as he started up the ladder.

“(Really? Then you're on your own for the rest of the evening. I'll be quizzing you later.)” Haruto answered with a grin as both of the twins groaned.

Once they were back in the living area behind the shop. George pulled out a cell phone and called Bill, inviting him to the Urahara Shoten for dinner. It took Bill about twenty minutes to arrive, which was just enough time for everyone to get cleaned up from their training session.

When Bill arrived, Haruto offered introductions and they settled around the table. The food was simple, but filling and Haruto and the Weasleys made sure that they expressed their thanks to the cook. After they finished eating and everyone had been supplied with fresh cups of tea, the atmosphere grew tense and Kisuke gave Bill a serious look, “Weasley-san, in your opinion how much effort is Dumbledore willing to put toward retrieving my son?”

Bill took a sip of tea as he marshaled his thoughts, taking a slow deep breath he let part of it out as a sigh. “Urahara-san, almost everyone in Wizarding England believes that the only one capable of saving them from Voldemort is Harry Potter. Over the past two years this belief has only grown stronger as Dumbledore has encouraged the belief that Harry Potter possesses some kind of power or ability that the Wizarding World has never seen before. Dumbledore has built up the image of Harry Potter being their savior for the past fifteen years, ever since Harry first defeated Voldemort as an infant. I think that we can depend on Dumbledore pushing a considerable amount of his influence and resources into finding and returning Harry Potter to Wizarding England where he will be expected to battle and defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters.”

Bill fell silent and waited to see what Kisuke's response would be. When the older man just sat quietly with his eyes closed and his arms crossed up his sleeves Bill decided to continue with what he hoped to be better news, “The thing is Urahara-san, Dumbledore is going to be devoting his efforts into finding Harry Potter. Because of the spells removed from your son last summer he ceased being Harry Potter and became Urahara Haruto. The two of them are literally nothing alike. If I had not been present during the process of removing Dumbledore's spells from Harry I would not recognize him as having any connection to his former self.”

“Oh?” Kisuke said, peering out from under the brim of his hat, his eyes gaining a spark of interest. “Are they really that different?”

“Absolutely, Harry Potter was short, dark haired, wore glasses, had green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped 'curse scar' on his forehead. Urahara Haruto looks nothing like that, doesn't need glasses and has no 'curse scars'. There are other differences as well, the way they dress, how they move and act, their levels of skill and confidence, that widen the gap between Harry Potter and Urahara Haruto. Even if Dumbledore were to attempt to trace Harry down by his magical signature, he wouldn't find Haruto because after we removed the blocks and bindings on the energy he has inside him it ceased to register as a Wizard's magical core.”

“Ah, but wouldn't he remember that he took my son to create Harry Potter?”

“Eventually I'm sure that he will come to Japan to check and see if Harry has happened to figure out that he wasn't born a Potter. However, Dumbledore is a very influential Wizard in England and right now that is working against his plans. Everyone is looking to him for guidance since it became public that Harry Potter was missing. From what I've been able to learn, between the demands of the British Ministry of Magic, the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards, Dumbledore simply hasn't had the time to perform his own search. He has a group of people scouring the British Isles and Europe for Harry, but I don't think that he would willingly share with them the tale of how he stole a baby from Japan and placed the infant with the Potters just to be able to send someone from his group to look.”

“Do you have any ideas why Dumbledore would do such a thing?” Kisuke asked.

“Well...” Bill paused and took a sip of tea, “Personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that neither you, nor Haruto's mother, are wizards. On his heritage test the three of you were described as 'Shinigami' which is something my employers had never heard of. I believe that Dumbledore discovered something about Shinigami that would benefit him in his efforts to get rid of Voldemort.”

“Hm, I wonder,” Kisuke murmured as he considered Bill's words. “About twenty years ago Dumbledore was a fairly regular customer, he would come to chat and have tea. He would ask how my business was going and he would give me regular updates on what was happening in Wizarding England. He began to ask if I would be willing to fight alongside him against this Voldemort you mention.”

“What did you tell him?” Haruto asked, wanting to know what his Dad had done.

“I refused, I have responsibilities here and I couldn't involve myself in a war half way around the globe. The things that Dumbledore told me about what Voldemort and his troops were doing were very sad, and some things were suitably shocking, but I couldn't see any reason to put myself at risk.” Kisuke said with a solemn expression on his face, “As you've said Bill-san, I am not a Wizard and while Shinigami do have powers and abilities that set them apart from mundane humans I do not know how the differences between a Wizard and a Shinigami could assist him.”

“If you don't mind me asking, what is a Shinigami?” Bill asked.

Kisuke grinned a little and looked at his son. He could see the eager look in the young man's eyes and knew that Haruto was also waiting for his answer, “Ara ara, where to start? You've told me some things about your Wizarding World, and I have some past knowledge about it from Dumbledore.”

“Back on the roof, that dark haired girl mentioned something about a 'Soul Society' and that you worked outside of its laws.” Haruto broke in, “Does that have anything to do with it?”

“It does,” Kisuke admitted, “I'm surprised that you caught that. Hm, I guess that I could compare the Soul Society to the Wizarding World, at least for the basics. The Soul Society, as you might have guessed is also kept secret and separate from the Human World, but it isn't because of Magic. The Soul Society is really an entirely separate dimension, where a person's essence, or soul if you will, travels when they die. Shinigami have the ability to travel between the Living World and the Soul Society freely. It's a Shinigami's job to make sure that the souls of recently departed humans make the journey to the Soul Society, and to defend the Living World against the attacks of Hollows.”

“If you are a Shinigami and deal with the passage of souls, are you alive?” Bill asked.

Kisuke looked at Bill for a while, as he apparently needed time to form his answer, “You know, I've never really given it much thought. I know that I exist... I know that I can affect the world around me... I know that I can think and reason. Yet if I were not inside this Gigai, this artificial body, most of the world outside wouldn't be able to see or hear me. I guess it would depend on your definition of what 'alive' is. I know that I personally believe that I am alive.”

Bill nodded accepting Kisuke's explanation, “Okay, you also mentioned Hollows, can you tell us about them? I'm asking because from what I have learned Hollows are attracted to wizards and are very hard to get away from, or injure.”

“A Hollow is a human soul that has lost its 'heart', its humanity. When a soul doesn't cross over to the Soul Society and remains in the Living World it is slowly consumed by feelings of regret, loss, despair, loneliness, fear, and rage. When this happens the soul's heart is eaten away and a Hollow is formed.” Kisuke explained, “The body of the spirit is transformed into a monster and a mask of bone forms over its face. This mask acts like a shield, blocking the Hollow's raw emotions from the outside world, but the damage to the soul is visible in the hole it has passing through its body somewhere. In an effort to ease their feelings of loss, they are drawn with an insatiable hunger to consume other souls. A Hollow will kill a living person to consume a strong soul. When a Hollow eats another soul they can incorporate it into themselves and grow stronger, or they can force that soul to become another Hollow. If there are no souls available for a Hollow to eat they will consume other weaker Hollows. Fortunately for us, the majority of Hollows live in a separate place from both the Living World and the Soul Society. This place, named Hueco Mundo, is somewhere in-between the two dimensions, yet wraps around both. Hollows can appear in either the Soul Society or the Living World once they've grown strong enough. When they do, they'll go after souls that hold a high amount of energy, whether it is Wizarding Magic or Reiryoku.”

Bill and the others sat quietly for a while, absorbing what Kisuke had told them. They quietly sipped their tea as their thoughts churned over the idea that Hollows had once been human souls. “So,” Bill eventually broke the silence, “how can we defend ourselves?”

“To get rid of a Hollow, you have to break the mask over its face. Shinigami most often use their Zanpakutos to do this, and because the Zanpakuto is an embodiment of their Reiryoku they purify the Hollow of whatever deeds it has done since the soul fell into despair and send it on to the Soul Society. If the soul of the Hollow performed evil deeds while it was still among the living, or before it became a Hollow, the Shinigami's Zanpakuto will direct the tainted soul to Hell.” Kisuke explained.

“The agent who helped us settle in Karakura warned us about Hollows and mentioned that he had reports that blasting, fire or lightning based spells could damage them, is that true?” Haruto asked.

Kisuke nodded, “I would agree, if you use a spell that creates an explosive or elemental force, like fire or lightning, that would have the potential of damaging a Hollow. If the spell was cast directly against a Hollow's mask, it could kill it. However I don't know if using wizard magic against a Hollow would allow its soul to be purified, or if it would simply destroy it.”

“What happens if a Hollow is destroyed?” Bill asked.

“Well, its soul and the essence of all the souls it has consumed get taken out of the cycle of rebirth, which is not something anyone wants to happen.” Kisuke answered with a shudder before falling silent in thought. He didn't want his son's friends to be helpless against any Hollows they came across, but he didn't have enough information about how their 'magic' worked. Tessai had mentioned that the twins had decent Reiryoku and the potential for learning Kido, which Kisuke knew would also purify Hollows, and that lead him to believe that after a few tests he could learn if Wizarding magic could act the same. “I may be able to tell if your spells are capable of killing Hollows, and if they either purify or destroy the souls inside them if you are willing to submit to some tests,” he offered.

“What kind of tests?” Bill asked.

“A few to measure the kind of energy released when you cast a spell and to see what kind of control you have over this 'magic'.” Kisuke explained, “I wouldn't mind learning more about the types of spells that wizards can cast and how they may have parallels with Shinigami Kido.”

“Kido?” Haruto asked, “I saw that listed on my heritage test.”

Kisuke nodded, “It would be. Kido is the closest Shinigami equivalent to a wizard's spell casting. It focuses a portion of your Reiryoku to cause a specific effect, generally either binding something or destroying something. However it can also be used for healing, shielding and warding. Tessai is a Kido Master, he will be teaching you how to use it.”

Suddenly Fred and George cracked enormous simultaneous yawns. “(Sorry about that,)” said Fred sheepishly. “(It's been a long day,)” finished George.

Kisuke looked at the clock, it was late and the three young men had put in a good training session that afternoon, “Yare, yare, it's later than I thought. You can stay here tonight. Haruto, tomorrow I'd like to start training you with your Zanpakuto, and you can tell me more about yourself. Weasley-sans can work with Tessai if they are available.” As he finished speaking Tessai excused himself and rose to go and set up rooms for their guests.

Bill looked at his twin brothers and nodded, “Thank you for the invitation, Urahara-san. I'll have to go into work in the morning, but I'll see if I can free up the afternoon. Would it be alright for me to share what I've learned with my employers?”

Kisuke looked sharply at the long haired young man, he spent several minutes considering the young man trying to get a feeling about Bill's integrity and strength. He focused his abilities and looked for Bill's Reiraku. What he found led him to believe that Bill was trustworthy, but Kisuke knew that he would have to proceed with caution, “I would like to perform those tests I mentioned earlier, to see what effect Wizarding Magic has on Hollows before you inform anyone in the Wizarding World.”

“I agree, I won't tell them anything that could result in the outright destruction of a soul. However, I may need to give them some information if I want to get out early and come here to assist you.”

Kisuke sat and thought for a moment, he remembered that the twins had mentioned something about Bill being able to make the basement training room 'invisible' to Dumbledore, should the old Wizard come looking for Haruto. “Hm, Weasley-san, would it be possible for me to hire you?”

“That depends on the job,” Bill answered.

“Your brothers mentioned that you might be able to... what did they say... Oh yes, 'ward' my training room so that Dumbledore, or anyone he might send, would be unable to find it.”

“I can do that,” Bill said with a nod. “I'm even on retainer to ensure Haruto's safety in whatever way I can, so I won't have to use a flimsy excuse.”

Kisuke smiled, “On retainer? Just what is it that you do Weasley-san?”

It was Bill's turn to smile, “I work for Gringotts, the Wizarding World's bank, as a Curse-breaker. Curse-breakers specialize in spell mechanics, learning how to take apart harmful spells and wards, but we also have to learn how to cast them. Gringotts employs Curse-breakers to search for lost treasure, break curses on people, property and objects, fix and repair damage from miss-cast and layered spells, and to ward properties. I'm the one who figured out all the spells that Dumbledore cast on Haruto to make him into Harry Potter, so that they could be removed safely.”

At this moment Tessai returned, letting them know that the guest rooms were ready. Haruto and the twins retired to the guest rooms, leaving Bill and Kisuke still sitting around the table. The shopkeeper's expression grew serious as he examined the younger man on the other side of the table, “Weasley-san I would like to thank you for what you have done in helping my son find his way home. Children are extremely rare among Shinigami, and the fact that he was born here in the Living World makes him even more special.”

“Urahara-san, there is not much my family wouldn't do for that young man, whether he remained Harry Potter or not. I'm the oldest of seven siblings, and my parents have found it a challenge to make ends meet at times. However, from the moment my Mother met your son, he became like one of her own. For the past five years, my parents have been trying to get Dumbledore to agree that Haruto should spend his summers with us, instead of returning to the family who was granted guardianship over him when the Potters died. With all that we've learned over this past year I don't think that there is a single member of my family who wouldn't brave the gates of Hell if it would help Haruto.”

“I'm glad that my son has the support of your family. From what you tell me it sounds like he has needed it.” Kisuke said before taking a sip of tea and letting his lips turn to a sly grin, “Now, would you like to see the space that needs warding?”

Bill felt an eyebrow raise in reaction to Kisuke's expression, before nodding. Kisuke stood from his place at the table, walked to the corner of the room and lifted the trap door that led to his underground training area.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleach Terms:
> 
> Onmitsukidō - Second Division Stealth Squad - Information Gathering and Assassin Force.
> 
> Asauchi – A 'blank' pre-Zanpakuto sword used during training at the Shinigami Academy. Souls training to be Shinigami focus their Reiryoku through the blade to eventually manifest a Zanpakuto.

The next morning saw the start of Haruto's training under his Father's guidance. Kisuke wanted to see how well his son handled himself in his Shinigami form so began the practice session by knocking Haruto out of his body with a jab from his sheathed Zanpakuto. This time Haruto recovered quickly and drew Kisuke away from his fallen body. Kisuke was pleased by the action, Haruto's body was vulnerable if it didn't have a Gikongan to take the place of his soul, and by leading the fight away there was less risk for Haruto's body becoming damaged, or destroyed.

They were soon ranging about the training room, coming together to exchange sword blows and splitting apart to look for openings. Haruto wasn't shy about using his blade, but it took him a couple of minutes before he settled into being in his spiritual form. When he did his fighting style tightened up and Kisuke was pleased to find that Haruto was quite capable of defending against his attacks. Haruto's swordsmanship showed that he had some training. The young man's defense was good and attacks were straightforward. He handled his Zanpakuto well, understanding its weight and balance and how the blade moved through the air. Kisuke was pleased to see that Haruto didn't make one of the typical errors of a new swordsman, that of overreaching. Since this was the first day of their training Kisuke didn't push his attack, he kept Benihime sealed in her cane-sword form and the pair worked on sparring. Kisuke knew that Haruto did not have much experience fighting in his Spiritual form, and that getting the young man used to how it felt and moved was important. 

Kisuke thought about his son. Haruto had done well during their hand-to-hand sparring session yesterday afternoon with the twins. So he had obviously trained hard, learning how his body moved and what it could do. His physical body had restricted how fast he could move, how hard he could hit, and how hard he could be hit, but somewhere in his past training Haruto had begun to learn how to channel his Reiryoku through his body to overcome those restrictions. Now Kisuke was teaching Haruto just what could be done without them. In a way what Kisuke was doing now, was the opposite of the Gigai training regimen offered to Shinigami who were ordered on extended missions that would take them to Living World. The training was optional for most Shinigami, but both the Second and Twelfth Divisions had made it mandatory when Kisuke and Yoruichi had still lived in the Soul Society. They both knew that a Shinigami couldn't always take the time to transition slowly from being inside a Gigai to fighting a Hollow, and the ones who took time to practice jumping back and forth had better chances of surviving missions in the Living World. The Gigai training also taught the Shinigami the physical limits of the false bodies they would be using, and how to care for them.

By the end of the morning, Kisuke could tell that Haruto had the sword and hand-to-hand combat skills that he would expect from a recent academy graduate. Considering that according to his son the young man had only been training for a little over ten months, Kisuke was pleased, but there was definite room for improvement. He would have Haruto join Tessai's training in Kido this afternoon.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

At the end of lunch, after the table was cleared of dishes and Fred and George moved to the kitchen to help Tessai clean clean up Bill opened his briefcase and took out a file, a quill and several sheets of parchment. He set the briefcase back on the floor. “Urahara-san, you asked if you could hire me to ward a portion of your property. I've brought along a standard contract and information about the additional options Gringotts can provide both for your home and for your business.”

Urahara slipped his fan from the sleeve of his jacket and settled in for doing business, “Ah, Weasley-san before we can do business I'd like to know more about this Gringotts. What can you tell me about them?”

“Gringotts is one of the largest financial institutions in the world and quite possibly the most financially sound. While their transactions are made in Wizarding currencies, those currencies are backed by Platinum, Gold and Silver. They offer internationally competitive rates of exchange for mundane currency. Deposits made with Gringotts are absolutely guaranteed, no matter the amount. For businesses Gringotts offers a full range of accounting, investment, and support products for day to day operations. Then there is their security branch, which offers services as simple as monitored alarm systems up to high security vaults and personal protection services.”

“That is an impressive list Weasley-san, I will have to make some decisions after I have had a chance to complete a review of the documents you have brought.” Kisuke said with a glint in his eye, “However for today, what can you tell me about warding the training room?”

Bill wondered for a moment about the glint that Kisuke got in his eye, but handed over a folder with several sheets of paper in it. “This outlines Gringotts' basic warding package. Your property already has some warding on it. When the investigators from the bank were assisting Haruto with his search, they noted that they were unable to physically verify the owner of this shop.”

“Oh?” Kisuke asked, “Why was that?”

Bill grinned, “You need to understand Urahara-san, my employers are not human. I'm sure that Haruto can tell you more, but the Wizarding World is made up of many different creatures and beings. Gringotts is run by a magical race of beings called Goblins. They are known for their fierce, uncompromising natures. In the past there were several Goblin and Wizard wars. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but after the last war Wizards discovered that the Goblins of Gringotts made ideal bankers and they have been business partners ever since. Over time, the Wizarding World has been forced into working more and more with the mundane world through commercial ventures and investment opportunities. Gringotts has been more than willing to facilitate this interaction wherever they can sense a challenge or a profit.” Bill took a sip of tea and continued, “When the Goblins of the Tokyo branch overheard a discussion about the 'Urahara Shoten' and that you often stocked a small quantity of a rare potions ingredient, one of the floor supervisors connected the name of the shop to an alert that had been sent from London about Haruto's search. A couple of scouts were sent out to verify the information. The scouts were able to find the shop, but they were repelled when they tried to enter to ask about the owner.”

“Will I have to allow these Goblins access to the Shoten if I agree to do business with Gringotts?” Kisuke asked.

Bill shook his head, “No, that is not required. As long as you pay any bills on time, and stick to what you agree to in the contract, they will not interfere with your business. For the Goblins everything is about profits and potentials, not much else registers as being worth their time.”

“Yare, yare, that's a rather brutal outlook.” Kisuke said with a slight frown.

“It is, but Goblins are a warrior race who have shifted their battles from the field to the corporate boardroom. They are described as being ambitious, cunning, cutthroat, and vicious, but overall they have a strong sense of honor. To violate a contract with a Goblin is a pretty heavy crime, and the violator better have an airtight reason for not meeting their end of the agreement.”

Kisuke nodded, the Goblin's view of business was something he could understand. It sounded like dealing with Gringotts would be similar to making deals with the local yakuza, or the noble families of the Soul Society, and he had gained plenty of experience making those kind of 'business agreements' during his century of exile. Flashing Bill another grin, Kisuke pulled the folder of paperwork closer and began to read.

“May I?” Haruto asked from his position at the table.

“Eh?” Kisuke asked. “Why would you be interested in this?”

Haruto flashed his Father a familiar grin, “I've been trained by the Director of the London Branch of Gringotts in Estate and Account Craft. Ragnok said I had a knack for it.”

Bill chuckled, “Urahara-san, if Ragnok said that Haruto had a 'knack' for Estate and Account Craft you'd best let him write up any contract you make with Gringotts. He'll make sure that all of your interests and concerns are addressed, while getting the best from the Goblins. Ragnok is a well known Director and it is a high complement to have a Goblin tell you that you have a 'knack' for something, especially if it is in the Goblin's area of expertise.”

“Very well,” Kisuke agreed with a nod. “Bill if you'd like, Tessai is training with your brothers right now. They're working on the basics of Kido. Why don't you join them while Haruto and I go over this paperwork. I'll send him when we're finished.”

Bill nodded and left the table heading for the trap door and ladder which led to the training area.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Kisuke and Haruto spent the afternoon going over the documents from Gringotts and hammering out a first draft of a contract to get the training room warded. They then turned to the accounting books and other contracts for the Shoten. Kisuke found himself duly impressed by Haruto's insight and skill. While they found no glaring errors or problems in the paperwork they reviewed, Haruto was able to quickly find where things could be improved and made several suggestions on how to go about it.

Tessai called an end to the Kido training session before the Uraharas had finished with their work, but by the time dinner was prepared Haruto had finished writing out a contract proposal that Bill could present to his superiors at Gringotts for approval. Haruto also had a sheaf of notes about what services they could use to improve the Shoten's business side. Haruto felt that anything more was premature, without making a personal visit to the Tokyo branch of Gringotts and getting to know the locals.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

“How goes the training?” Kisuke asked, poking his head into the room where Tessai was working with Fred, George and Haruto on the foundations of Kido. Tessai gave a noncommittal grunt which caused Kisuke to take a closer look at what they were doing. All three boys were concentrating on maintaining the orbs of light they held cupped in their hands. The orbs were all about the size of a melon. Haruto's was a bright blue-white with a smooth surface. The twins held dimmer orbs that had a lavender cast and a fuzzy looking surface. Tessai gave a small jerk of his head and rose to join Kisuke in the hallway.

“They are doing quite well, Haruto in particular is catching on to the theory very quickly. You'll need to start instructing them on how to mask their Reiryoku soon if you want them to avoid the notice of the Onmitsukidō in town. Haruto already seems to have some ability at masking his presence, but the twins don't and as they start learning Kido their spiritual power will grow. I plan to start introducing them to the chants this evening and we'll move to the training room for some target practice tomorrow. I do have a few growing doubts that the twins will be able to learn more than a handful of Kido spells.”

“Oh?”

“Remember Haruto said that he had difficulty learning to use his Reiryoku to power the Wizarding spells he knew? This is the same, but in the opposite direction. The twins do have a decent level of Reiryoku, but all their education and training has used their Wizard's Core. Now they have to reach through that to work with their Reiryoku. I'm hoping that Fred and George will be able to master a few Hado and Bakudo spells. There are also signs that they may be able to manifest some kind of weapon, but it won't be a Zanpakuto. The wands they carry are too much like that already.”

“Their wands are like Zanpakuto?”

Tessai nodded, “From what they've told me the first wand a Wizard gets is much like an Asauchi. Over time, the more they use and carry their wands the spells they cast become easier and more powerful. For a skilled Wizard who is highly attuned to their wand, it will seem like the wand begins to anticipate its wielder's desires. Fred and George also told me that there are stories of a Wizard's wand transforming into a battle staff, similar to a Zanpakuto's Shikai release. I think that with some work in manipulating their Reiryoku the twins should be able to achieve this.”

“Good! I'm curious to see what they are capable of. I'll start them on games of 'hide and seek' and 'tag' tonight, to work on their sensing and masking skills. Also, I almost have the test range set up to see what kind of effect Wizarding magic may have on Hollows and the results from that may give us both a better idea of how to instruct them.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's check in with happenings in England...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder - "(text text text)" are words spoken in a language that's not common to an area, ie. Gobbledegook being spoken anywhere not in the Underground, English being spoken in Japan, or Japanese being spoken in England.

Albus Dumbledore settled behind his desk with a weary sigh. At long last the school year was over. This past year had been a nightmare for the elderly wizard. Between the demands of the Minister, the verification of the return of Voldemort, and the continuing disappearance of Harry Potter, Albus was feeling every one of his advanced years. The only bright spot that he could see came from the continued reports by Severus that the Dark Lord appeared to be suffering from some kind of degenerative malady which was affecting his ability to carry out attacks and recruit new followers to his side.

Albus' brow furrowed as he considered this news, from what he remembered of Harry's account of Voldemort's return Tom had used a dark alchemical ritual to create a new body. It was similar to the creation of a golem, or a homunculus, and the only thing that Albus knew which would account for the symptoms described by Severus was a flaw in the original construction of the golem, or a contamination of the ingredients that went into the reaction... Albus' thoughts shuddered to a halt for a moment, then he leapt from his chair and yanked open the cabinet that held his pensive. He almost spilled its contents as he hurried back to his desk. Pointing his wand to his temple, Albus brought forth his memory of Harry's account of Voldemort's return and placed it into the pensive.

Albus listened to the young man's recitation twice to verify his thoughts, then he fell back into his chair and began to laugh. Tom had unwittingly made a critical error in his spell. Voldemort had wanted Harry's blood not just because he had chosen the boy to be his enemy, but because he'd thought that the boy's parents were also his enemies. If the Potters had been Harry's parents, then Harry's blood would have held the enmity of two generations of powerful wizards, and due to the dark path Tom followed it would have made him strong. However, Harry wasn't the son of James and Lily, so the blood could only hold Harry's enmity, not that of his parents. Voldemort would have been more successful if he had used young Diggory's blood, because in that case the lad's parents had at least been Wizards. Popping a lemon drop into his mouth Albus looked over at Fawkes and gave his companion a tired smile, “Well my friend, there may be hope for us yet... I still wish I knew what happened to Harry.”

Savoring his lemon drop for a little longer another thought crossed his mind, “I wonder, could it be possible that Harry found out about Kisuke? It's been years since I visited. I'll have to make a point of dropping by, but right now I have to finish up these end of year reports for the Ministry and put another advertisement in the Prophet for the DADA post.”

Fawkes ruffled his feathers, he wasn't at all pleased with the Headmaster at the moment. It had fallen to him to console the distraught Snowy Owl in the school's aviary when the bond with her master had been broken the previous July. She continued to roost at Hogwarts through the school year, but the other post owls were trying to convince her to move on. They suggested that if she wasn't ready to get a new owner, then she should at least be friends with one of her old master's acquaintances that were still attending school. The other post owls reasoned that if her master still lived then working for one of his friends would give her the best chance of finding him again. Over the past year they gradually convinced the Snowy that this was her best chance, and at the end of the school year she departed in the company of a bushy brown haired witch.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

It was the first of July before Albus could free up enough time for a trip to Japan. Telling his staff that he was taking a long weekend to relax, and that he should only be disturbed in the direst of emergencies, Albus escaped to the International Portkey Office and booked his trip to Asia. Dumbledore scheduled his arrival to be mid-afternoon, because past experience had taught him that it was the best time to catch Kisuke at home. The two youngsters who were always there, were engaged in cleaning up the shop yard, but quickly escorted him inside where Tessai was tending the store.

“Ah, Tessai-kun! It is good to see you again.” Dumbledore announced as he entered the Urahara Shoten.

Tessai looked up at the voice who had addressed him so casually, he kept his expression impassive as he took in the visage of the elderly wizard before him. To his trained eye Dumbledore looked quite worn, and Tessai recognized that this was the picture of someone pushed to the limits of patience and endurance. Internally Tessai breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Haruto and the twins had decided that while Kisuke and he worked with Bill to ward the training room and create a second entrance to the space under the shop they were going to play tourist for a few days and were off visiting Tokyo, with plans to ride the bullet train South and spending a day or two on Okinawa. The boys' planned itinerary should give them plenty of time to put Dumbledore off of Haruto's trail. Tessai would have to remember to mention Dumbledore's visit when Haruto called in this evening. He was sure that the boys would be able to find something to do outside of Karakura while they dealt with the aged Headmaster.

“Dumbledore-san, how may I help you today?” Tessai asked politely. 

“Is Kisuke-kun in today? I would like to speak with him if he's available.”

Tessai nodded and moved to the back of the shop. Dumbledore heard a few murmuring voices before Kisuke emerged, followed by the last person Albus expected to find in Japan, William Weasley.

“(Bill! What are you doing here?)”

Bill gave a short apologetic bow to Kisuke before answering, “(Urahara-san is a customer of Gringotts, I'm here as a representative of the Bank.)”

“(Really?)”

“(Gringotts has branches all over the World, Headmaster.)” Bill continued before turning to face Kisuke, “I hope that we can continue our discussion at a more convenient time Urahara-sama, possibly tomorrow?”

“Certainly Weasley-san, I will go over the proposals tonight and I should be able to give you my decisions tomorrow afternoon.” Kisuke replied brightly.

“Until tomorrow then,” Bill excused himself with a parting bow to both Urahara and Dumbledore before moving to leave the shop. As he passed the Headmaster Bill felt a flutter of magic against his Reiryoku, indicating that Albus had just tagged him with a tracking spell. He mentally shook his head, giving thanks to his training with Tessai for being able to recognize being hit with the subtle magic. Bill was mildly surprised at the Headmaster's skill, which bespoke of long hours of practice, but he was unsurprised at the action. Continuing on his way Bill apparated to the Tokyo Branch to file his report on the continuing negotiations with the Urahara Shoten. As soon as Bill set foot in the bank he felt another flutter of magic against his Reiryoku as the tracking spell was removed by the security measures in place at the employee entrance. Information about the unauthorized spell would be logged in by Bank Security, and Bill was sure he would hear about it when he met with his supervisors. He knew that he wouldn't be in trouble for picking up a simple tracking spell here and there, that was just part of the job. Bill's supervisors would only become concerned if he started coming into work with unauthorized listening or tracking spells attached to him on a regular basis. Then Bill could expect to be called in to report on where he was working and if he felt that it was a hostile environment.

Back at the shop Urahara invited Dumbledore in for tea, very glad that Haruto and the twins were away and that Yoruichi had yet to show up. As Tessai retired to the kitchen to put the tea together Kisuke looked at Dumbledore, “So, Tessai mentioned that you wanted to speak with me?”

“Indeed, but first may I ask how you met William Weasley?”

Kisuke raised an eyebrow at the audacity of Dumbledore's question, but he decided to answer, “A couple of months ago a customer of mine mentioned Gringotts as a potential source of investors if I was interested in making it a regular practice to carry some of the more unusual items I occasionally acquire from my suppliers. Recent economic trends have encouraged me to look at diversifying my customer base and since I don't want to expand or move the shop I need to look at investing in unique goods and services. I made a few inquiries and got in touch with Gringotts a couple of weeks ago, and I've been working with Weasley-san to see what products and services Gringotts can offer to help my business.”

“Ah I see, so you wouldn't know if, perchance he had anyone living with him?”

“Eh? Why would I want to know anything like that? What Weasley-san does outside of our arrangements is of no concern to me.” Kisuke said scornfully, his distaste for Dumbledore's breech of etiquette very clear.

Dumbledore blinked at Kisuke's harsh tone, “My apologies Kisuke-kun, I'm afraid that my thoughts are filled with a personal concern. Last Fall one of the students at Hogwarts disappeared and it has caused quite an uproar in England.”

“Oh?” Kisuke asked, hoping to encourage Dumbledore to give up more information.

“Yes, you see the lad is quite well known. He's from an important family who were instrumental in ending the first conflict with Voldemort.”

“First conflict? Has there been more than one?”

Albus gave a slow nod, “We had all hoped that Voldemort had been defeated around fifteen years ago, never to return. Yet no body was recovered and there were a few small signs of his continuing existence. Then two years ago Voldemort returned and has started once more to gather supporters and strength.”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with the young man?” Kisuke asked, wanting to see if he could get the wizened Headmaster to admit using a child as a weapon.

Dumbledore took a sip of his tea and sighed, “I know I just said that the lad was from a family that was instrumental in stopping Voldemort's first rise to power, but that's not the entire truth. The child is the only survivor of the attack which killed his parents. Something happened during that attack, no one's really sure what, which ended Voldemort's campaign for the next fifteen years.”

“Dumbledore-san, I find it hard to believe that a child could take down a full grown wizard. One you once told me was the greatest threat your people had ever faced.”

“Your disbelief does not make it any less true, Kisuke-kun. The boy is famous in England for defeating Voldemort and giving us fifteen years of peace.”

“But at such a cost,” Kisuke said quietly. “It is tragic when children become orphans. Then to have the heavy weight of fame placed on their shoulders... I hope that the boy was able to grow up in a supportive environment.”

“He was placed with his Mother's Sister, and began at Hogwarts six years ago.” Dumbledore answered and Kisuke felt a spike of anger at how the Headmaster didn't answer his subtle jab at ensuring the child grew up in a good home. Dumbledore swirled the tea in his cup and continued, “I've kept an eye on him while he's been at Hogwarts and the boy shows a lot of potential. I just hope that with Voldemort's return we can find him unharmed and bring him home where he'll be safe.”

“Well, I wish you luck Dumbledore-san.” Kisuke commented as he raised his cup to hide the cruel smirk he felt forming on his face. The ex-captain was beginning to get ideas of what would be happening in Dumbledore's future, and realized that he felt no regret at contemplating ways of causing the old wizard's downfall. Kisuke wasn't stupid, he well knew that the 'boy' the Headmaster was speaking of was Haruto. Now he knew that Haruto had spoken truthfully, and the Headmaster had only thought of his son as a tool, or a weapon. The rather off-hand comment about the boy showing 'a lot of potential' told Kisuke that Haruto was still in danger from the old wizard's scheming. If Dumbledore had truly cared for the 'boy' he was talking about as a person, he would have used the child's name, and he wouldn't have brushed over where the child was placed after becoming an orphan.

“Right now I'll take all the good luck you can offer,” Dumbledore admitted with a sigh. “I've had a group of the boy's friends and acquaintances scouring all of Britain since last September with no luck. I was surprised to meet Bill here as his family are all quite close to the child, and I thought they were all engaged in the search.”

Kisuke peered at the old Headmaster from under the brim of his hat. “If you've had people looking since last September, then I'm sure that your people have followed up on all the obvious leads. When it has been so long it is hard to keep hopes up and most trails have grown cold. It may be best if your searchers get on with their lives, keeping the search in the back of their minds and hoping that time will shake something loose.”

Dumbledore nodded, “True enough... Kisuke-kun I know it might be a lot to ask, but with running into Bill here I can't get the idea out of my head. I admit it's a long shot, but can I convince you to keep an eye out for the boy?”

“Me? Whatever for?”

“It isn't that I don't trust the Weasleys, but the child is like family to them and there is a possibility that they would help him leave England if he asked.”

“Why would leaving England be a problem? It sounds to me like staying there would be far more risky, for this child, if Voldemort is active again.”

Dumbledore shook his head, “I need to know where he is. I've taken steps to ensure his safety, but those arrangements are meaningless if he's off wandering the globe.”

“I don't know,” Kisuke disagreed. “Quite often keeping something or someone in a constant state of motion is the best kind of security to have. I mean you've just admitted to me that your people have been looking for this young man for the past ten months, without finding him. That's quite an impressive success on his part for avoiding discovery for this long. However, if it will make you feel better, I suppose that I can keep my eyes open. I'll need a description, and preferably a recent picture that I can show my contacts. I'll also need the child's name and any aliases he could be traveling under.” Kisuke's mind was working quickly as he began to warm up to the idea of building a campaign of misinformation that would have Dumbledore chasing shadows and staying out of his way. “Oh, I'll also need to have some way of contacting you with whatever information I find.”

Dumbledore nodded, “Of course, I can get all of that put together in the next day or so. I thank you for this Kisuke-kun.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Kisuke breathed a sigh of relief when Dumbledore finally left for the evening. They were safe for the moment, but Kisuke knew that the aged wizard would return soon. Hopefully he would only stop by to bring the photo and information that Kisuke had requested, but the shopkeeper rather doubted it.

Bill arrived early the next morning and swept the shop and yard for any spells left behind by Dumbledore. The curse-breaker quickly found and disabled monitoring spells at the entrance to the yard, around the shop doors and in the sitting area where Dumbledore had met with Kisuke. After identifying the spells Bill was livid, Dumbledore had put up a net of spells that were normally only found around prisons, mental wards, and locations where extremely dangerous or hazardous magical materials were kept. The spells generated a log that recorded the identity and magical signature of anyone who passed them and then 'tagged' individuals who met the criteria of the spell caster. In this case Dumbledore had set the spell to tag anyone with a magical signature. Bill wondered why Dumbledore had gone through all the trouble, since the Headmaster knew that Bill was working with Kisuke, and it would be unlikely that his spell net would remain in place for long. Then Bill realized that they were extremely fortunate that the boys were away from Karakura. With as much time as the boys spent at the Shoten, there had been a decent chance that they would have been recorded by Dumbledore's net between the time that Bill had left the evening before and when he arrived in the morning and found the net. If they had been in town, then Dumbledore would know that Fred and George were in Japan, which would make keeping Haruto a secret very difficult.

Once the monitoring spells were cleared away, Bill met with Kisuke and Tessai to discuss what they could do about keeping this from happening again. The biggest problem was that Kisuke's home was also the location of his business. For it to remain in operation as Urahara Shoten, and hopefully expand its presence in the Magical world, they couldn't simply set up wards that would deny entry. Unfortunately most of the ward schemes that Bill knew were capable of providing the level of secrecy they were aiming for also repelled non-magical people and there was no way that their very limited patronage by the local Wizarding population could provide enough income to keep the door open. Kisuke and Tessai agreed that portions of their property could be warded in such a way, like the labs and the training room under the shop, but they also realized that they couldn't keep out the public if they wanted to maintain the image of being a slightly eccentric convenience store and curio shop.


	10. Being Tourists and Dumbledore pays a visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes for clarity:
> 
> The school year in Japan begins on April 1 with seasonal breaks in late July/August and again from late December/March.
> 
> Inuzuri – The name of the 78th district of the Soul Society's South Rukongai. Translates to “Hanging Dog”

Haruto and the twins were enjoying their explorations of Tokyo. While most of the school aged population of Japan were completing the end of their first term for the school year the recent arrivals from England were free to be tourists. Kisuke had mentioned enrolling Haruto and the twins in the local high school, at the beginning of the term in September, both to help them fit in to the mundane world and to continue their education. It would mean buckling down with some primers and a few sessions of ‘cram school’ once they got back to Karakura, but with some work Haruto figured that they would be able to at least gain reasonable grades and keep up with their peers. Having Kisuke encouraging him to excel at his training and continuing his education made Haruto smile, he loved having the support of a Father. Haruto was also glad that Kisuke was supportive of the twins efforts, which pushed them to heights of brilliant inventing and hard work to gain his praise. Haruto also knew spending time learning in the Mundane world would only help the twins with their plans on expanding their joke shop.

Looking around the busy streets of Tokyo Haruto spotted an advertisement for an event at a local exhibition hall. With a grin he started off in the directions indicated, moving with purpose. Haruto pulled Fred and George along as he followed a series of signs posted along the sidewalk leading to a bustling events hall.

“Har, what's the rush?” Fred complained.

Haruto grinned, “Come on! It's not much further, I don't want to miss anything.”

“What isn't much further?” George chimed in.

“You'll see,” Haruto teased before pulling the twins over to a bench near the entrance to an arena which obviously had some sort of major event going on. Scores of people were going in and out of the doors. The twins watched the crowds, seeing many groups of school children being led by teachers, and smaller groups of tourists. After 'parking' the twins at the bench, he quickly cued up in the line leading to the box office. The line moved swiftly, and it wasn't long before Haruto returned with three tickets in his hand. Collecting the twins they made their way to the door. Entering the arena Fred and George could suddenly hear a cacophony of noise they were able to associate with a large number of people practicing martial arts. Haruto was bouncing on his toes and wearing an infectious grin, “It's an exhibition of all the top ranked martial arts schools in the area. I thought it might be a good place to pick up some training ideas, and see the pros use weapons other than swords.”

“Alright then!” George agreed, with Fred nodding enthusiastically, “Let's take a gander.”

The trio made their way around the hall, which was divided into a series of smaller 'rings', each showcasing a different fighting style or weapon group. There were participants of all ages, from elementary school kids up to gray haired masters of the arts. As they worked their way around, Haruto and the twins would observe for a while, and if they saw something interesting they would try to strike up a conversation with the exhibitor, asking questions about the techniques and forms.

After spending the day at the exhibition, Fred, George and Haruto stopped at a Sushi conveyor place to catch a bite to eat, and then went to a park near their hotel to make a quick call back to Karakura to report in. Haruto took out his cell phone and punched in the pre-set for his Dad's personal line, it rang twice before Tessai answered, giving the standard store greeting. Since Haruto was quite certain which number he called he knew that something was up.

“Ah Tessai-san, this is Honda. I was just wondering if my order has arrived?”

“One moment Honda-san, I'll check,” Tessai answered as he put Haruto on hold. Haruto looked at the twins, “Something's up at the Shoten. We may have to cut this trip short.”

“Or they may need us to stay away longer,” George put in.

Tessai's voice returned to the line, “Gomen Honda-san, I'm afraid the warehouse got your order mixed up and sent us a box of lemon drops instead of the toffee you ordered. Urahara-san is sure that we can correct your order in a day or two, if that would be alright?”

“That is fine Tessai-san. I'll call to check how things are, day after tomorrow?”

“Thank you Honda-san, I'm sure that we will clear this up quickly.”

Haruto scowled as he hung up the phone.

“What's up?” Fred asked.

“Dumbledore has been at the Shoten. Tessai's sure that they can take care of things, but we'll have to give them a couple of days.”

“Well that shouldn't be a problem, there is that Master's exhibition back at the event center this evening, and our tickets are still good for that. Also we wanted to check out some of the dojo's that were represented to see if they were connected to any around Karakura. Now we just have more time to do it.” George reasoned.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Molly quickly relieved the post owl of it's burden and offered it a treat. The owl was from Gringotts, but the letter wasn't from the bank. Looking at the return address she smiled, it was a letter from Bill. It pained her to have three, well four, of her sons so far away, but she also recognized that it was necessary. England was becoming just too dangerous. The previous summer the Ministry had finally acknowledged the return of Voldemort, and news about Death Eater raids once more peppered the Daily Prophet.

Pouring herself a cup of tea, Molly settled into her favorite chair. Taking her wand she cast the counter-spell which encoded the letter so that no-one other than a Weasley could read it, broke the seal on the letter and began to read.

_Dearest Mum,_

_Things here have been going well. It's been a bit tricky getting used to doing everything in a new language, but we're all settling in nicely. Haruto's family have been of particular assistance. His Father, Kisuke, is quite a bit like Fred and George and likes to keep us all on our toes. He is also well versed in DADA and has taken it upon himself to sharpen our skills. We are all learning new things._

_You would be surprised at daily life around here, and Dad would love it. All Japanese wizards are adept at negotiating the ins and outs of the muggle world. The Wizarding World here is much closer to the Muggle, while there is still the statute of secrecy, the local wizards interact with the muggle population on a daily basis. The population density here makes it very difficult to have completely Wizarding areas, so the wizards have to use things like the muggle grocery and shops to get what they need. We have found many muggle appearing stores that have sections that cater to wizards, which has inspired Fred and George._

_I know that you don't quite agree with what Fred and George have decided to pursue as their life's work, but they are really very good at it. With Haruto's help they have put together a contract with Gringotts to run their business, which has freed them up to work on new products. They have been considering expanding their product line into the Muggle world as well and have been working with Kisuke on creating jokes and gags that are safe enough for everyone, and won't infringe upon the statute._

_Work at the bank has been quite good as well. Several of the local curse breakers have expressed an interest for me to offer a seminar or two about my work in Egypt and Europe. I am eager to learn from my colleagues as well, since I've discovered that there are quite a few differences in Eastern Magic techniques._

_It's somewhat surprising how little we hear about LV and his DE's over here, but I suppose that with his focus remaining on England people here don't feel that he's much of a threat. It was a difficult decision to take on the job that brought me here, and so far away from everyone, but I don't regret it. I feel that what we are learning, and the friends we are making here will greatly benefit us in the future._

_Now I've got a fairly serious concern to voice. I need to be somewhat vague, but I'll try anyway. Before we left England I know that Dumbledore had some ideas about how LV survived and came back, and I've learned a few things here about the possibilities. If LV has done what I believe he has then I'm afraid that England's troubles won't be finished for some time. I also believe that with some more study and the assistance from some of the friends that we are making here there is a way to bring things to a close, but we cannot rush into things. If Dumbledore has been starting to speak to the order about searching for or finding particular objects or heirlooms, I urge you to ask him to hold off on any treasure hunting, or retrieval missions. I do not know what he will ask the order to look for, but I do know that they will be seemingly harmless items. I say 'seemingly harmless', but the spells they have on them make the items deadly. Remember the diary that possessed Ginny when she was eleven? They are that kind of dangerous. I am currently on the trail of a particular set of spells that will help Dumbledore locate and dispose of the objects safely._

_I'll write again soon, you, Dad and everyone are in my thoughts daily._

_Love, Bill._

Molly read over the last paragraph a second time. It was true, she had heard some discussion at the last order meeting about Dumbledore asking if some of the members would check their family vaults for items that could have belonged to the Founders of Hogwarts, but at the time she thought that he'd been interested in them for the School. With the warning from Bill, she wondered what Dumbledore was truly searching for. It still filled her mind with dread when she remembered what had happened with Ginny and that cursed diary. The thought that there could be other objects out there with similar properties scared her deeply.

Thinking back over the past year Molly realized that everything felt like it was in a holding pattern, which had started shortly after it was discovered that Harry was missing. Sure there had been a few attacks, and there were an increasing number of reports of Death Eater activity, but it really hadn't escalated to the level of violence that the Voldemort's first rise to power was remembered for. The Order knew that Voldemort was working on increasing his number of followers, but it also appeared that he was having a much more difficult time at it. Just about everyone was looking to the Ministry for direction, and the Minister was looking to Dumbledore. Albus consistently advised a path of caution, working with the Ministry, and preparedness, which had helped drag the speed of the conflict down to a crawl. Proposals were pushed through the Wizengamot that increased the Auror forces and the security around vital public buildings. 

This past year at Hogwarts Ron and Ginny had told her that the DADA course had been taught by a group of Aurors and that it had focused on what to do in a crisis, dueling and easy spells to protect yourself and others. While Dumbledore wouldn't expel the children of known Death Eaters, he made it known that the wards around the school had been re-enforced and that stronger disciplinary action, including involving the Ministry and the criminal courts, would be taken with any student who harmed another.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

It took three days of brainstorming, trials and calling in outside assistance from Gringotts to finally come up with a warding scheme for the Shoten that would protect both the Shinigami and Wizards residing there, keep their secrets, yet allow visitors and guests to find both the shop and the residence. The new warding also kept undesirable or unwanted spells from sticking to either the structure or the people who frequented it. Everyone had learned a lot from the process and the warders from Gringotts who contributed were looking forward to employing some of the ‘new’ techniques on their own homes. Unlike many ward schemes that protected buildings and homes, what Kisuke and the others came up with was more elastic and adaptable, capable of reacting to threats while maintaining the openness that allowed the Shoten to function.

It was also during this time that Dumbledore stopped by several times to provide Kisuke with the pictures and contact information he’d requested. The Headmaster seemed intent to make each of his visits into a social occasion, spending hours sipping tea and ‘catching up’ while avoiding to relate anything of substance to Kisuke’s repeated hints that he be truthful about the state of affairs in England relating to Harry Potter and the current disagreements with the Wizard who went by the name of Lord Voldemort. Every evening, once Dumbledore had departed, Bill and several Curse Breakers from Gringotts would appear and clean the Shoten of the Headmaster’s spells then spend several hours working on tweaking the ward scheme to increase its effectiveness. It was during these sessions that Tessai came forward to lend his expertise in Kido, which turned out to be the key they needed to add levels of flexibility to the wards that were not previously possible using the combination of Wizarding and Goblin runes and spells that Gringotts normally employed. The warding crew from Gringotts mentioned that Tessai should come into the bank and allow them to register his use of Kido as a ‘recovered’ method of magic as they recognized some of what they were seeing from the older sections of the Goblins’ library where scrolls and tomes were kept that documented ancient and lost arts. Tessai and Kisuke said that they would consider it, and after speaking with Bill decided that they would visit Gringotts to register as magic users in the near future as it would help bolster their defense against any moves the Headmaster might make, should he discover that Haruto was the child he’d manipulated into being Harry Potter.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Kisuke watched as Haruto and his friends practiced the Kido that Tessai was teaching them. All three were showing amazing progress, it had only taken them a couple of days to master the chants for the most common Hado and Bakudo spells. Now they were working on power and accuracy. Tessai was also taking time to introduce the three young men to other aspects of Kido covering, shielding, warding and healing. The ex-captain could clearly see where the twins were developing into a force to be reckoned with. Kisuke's eye easily assessed the twin's skills and he thought that if they had been in Soul Society the twins might never reach the very top ranks of a Court Guard Squad, since they did not hold Zanpakuto, they certainly showed enough potential skill to hold places in the top ten to fifteen seats of the Kido Corps. On the other hand Haruto was showing the potential that he would expect from someone with the ability to easily hold a Lieutenant's position in several of the Court Guard Squads. Nodding to himself, Kisuke realized that when Haruto was paired with the twins there was little fear that the trio would run into something they couldn't handle.

Over the past several days, once Haruto and the twins had returned from their tourist visits to Tokyo and other parts of Japan, Kisuke had tested the effects of the spells cast from all three of the Weasley's wands and the results were curious. The wards that Bill cast appeared to manipulate Reishi particles much like some of the upper level Kido effects a Kido Master could invoke with their combination chants. Any offensive spells that generated an elemental effect, like lightning, fire, water or earth appeared to have an energy signature quite similar to their Kido counterpart. In fact the signatures were so similar Kisuke would have to see how the spells acted on Hollows before he could say if Wizarding magic would purify or destroy a soul. There could be some component of 'intent' involved, which would mean that Wizards would have to be educated on what made up Hollows and the role they took in the cycles of rebirth, before Kisuke would feel safe in allowing them to know what spells were most effective. It wouldn't do for Wizards to become the successors to the Quincy. 

'Well, that's something for later,' Kisuke thought to himself. 'I'm not about to put out some Hollow bait just to answer that question yet. There's more than enough unstable Reiatsu in the area as it is with the boys training and Isshin's son romping all over town. With my luck even weak Hollow bait would call out a Menos, and I'd like Haruto and the twins to cut their teeth on something smaller. Hm, I should probably make sure the boys meet Rukia's charge and his friends soon as well. It wouldn't do to have that bunch attack each other. Isshin's son has a lot of potential, but if he doesn't start paying closer attention we're going to have another Zaraki Kenpachi in the making.'

Kisuke scowled to himself at the thought. Zaraki Kenpachi was certainly worthy of his name, the man was an army all by himself. In battle Zaraki gleefully threw himself into a berserker rage, relying heavily on his outrageous Reiryoku to ward off all but the most serious blows. That same level of power also blinded Kenpachi from sensing the ebb and flow of the Reishi around him. It gave Zaraki an abysmal sense of direction and made it all but impossible for the man to learn any Kido other than Shunpo. Very few people could stand in Kenpachi's presence when his Reiryoku was unrestrained by the specially designed eyepatch that Kisuke and Unohana had created for the man once he had solidified his position as Captain of the Eleventh.

That Zaraki Kenpachi had been capable of handling a Captaincy had come as a surprise to the rest of them. There was nothing in his appearance, attitude or visible skills that had indicated any possibility of success in running a Squad. Yamamoto Soutaichou had discovered Zaraki Kenpachi somewhere in the Rukongai and had brought him into the Seireitei and put him into the Academy. Zaraki had barely scraped through the Academy, mostly because the instructors all agreed that anyone with the level of Reiryoku that he had shown even as a cadet needed to be closely watched. When Zaraki had dispatched the prior Captain of Squad Eleven the rest of the Captains had held their breath, if Zaraki was unable to solidify his position over the Eleventh the squad would self-destruct.

Much to everyone's surprise Zaraki Kenpachi had set down a few rules, enforced them stringently, and the Eleventh had fallen into order. Every member was highly devoted to their Captain, and willingly followed his command. A secondary surprise had come in the look of the squad and the maintenance of their compound. At first everyone feared that the Eleventh would degenerate into something that would be better found at the fringes of the Rukongai, but it didn't. Instead, Kenpachi reminded them all that living in the Seireitei was a privilege that they had earned by working through the Academy and defended by risking their lives on patrols. They were right to feel pride in their accomplishments, but he wouldn't allow them to forget where they came from. For Zaraki Kenpachi that meant all squad members were responsible for the upkeep of the barracks and training areas. If a squad member wasn't out on patrol they were expected to put in time in the laundry or kitchens, doing maintenance on the barracks or in the armory, and assisting in the administrative duties of the Squad. Zaraki never forced his squad members to train, but if they didn't maintain their skills and strive to improve they would quickly end up dead, and everyone knew it.

Kisuke chuckled to himself, Academy graduates who thought that the Eleventh was an 'easy' Squad that did nothing but lay about or fight, were quickly educated to the expectations of their new Captain and the ranking members of the squad. Giving his head a shake Kisuke pulled his thoughts back to the present. He'd have to see what he could do to influence the training of Ichigo, so that the young man could reach his full potential. Having one Kenpachi among the Gotei 13 was enough.

Kisuke turned his attention back to Haruto and the twins, soon they would break for lunch. This afternoon Kisuke would work on Shunpo with Haruto in his Spiritual form while Fred and George continued working with Tessai on Hakudo and understanding the differences between their Wizarding Cores and Reiryoku. Kisuke was considering taking the three out on a patrol this evening. The three young men had been working through grueling training sessions in the basement room, and they all showed marked improvement from when they had arrived. It was probably time that Kisuke took them out on some patrols that would give Haruto some practice with Konso and dealing with the recently departed who sometimes needed convincing that it was time to move on.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Once they finished dinner, Kisuke looked around the table catching Haruto and the Twins' eyes. “I'd like you three to get ready for a patrol of Karakura tonight.”

“Patrol?” Haruto asked, so far most of their training had taken place under the Shoten, or in some of the back rooms. This would be the first time his Father had asked that they use what they were being taught outside.

“Yes, I'm confident that you'll all be able to handle an evening of patrolling the town. Also this will help with your endurance, my training room may be large, but it doesn't compare with the size of Karakura.”

Haruto and the twins nodded, mentally preparing themselves for their first 'mission'.

“For tonight I want you to focus on learning the area, masking your presence, and sensing the Reiryoku around you. Remember what we've been working on with the games of 'hide and seek' and 'tag' down in the training room. I'll be taking you to particular places that you should know about and I hope that we run into a few particular people so I can point them out to you. I don't foresee us doing much fighting tonight, but I do want you prepared to do so. If we're lucky we'll be able to help a few souls pass over using Konso.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Kisuke took a quick check on Haruto, making sure that the young man was asleep. The boys had been doing almost nightly patrols now for a week. Kisuke was concentrating their training to act as support for Ichigo, so they were working heavily on their spiritual awareness, stealth and speed. Today both Kisuke and Tessai had made sure to work all three boys to physical and spiritual exhaustion, to ensure that they would sleep soundly and to encourage their Reiryoku to grow. Sliding the door shut Kisuke made his way down the hall to another door, this was the door that lead to his private workshop. Opening the door he stepped inside the airlock that was revealed. This was where he experimented and worked on various projects with the assistance of Tessai, and already had the highest level of security he could devise, and Kisuke asked Bill to ward this space like he had done on the underground training room to keep it hidden from the Wizarding world. It was closer to Haruto's room than the entrance to the training room so it could be used as a bolt hole if Dumbledore ever arrived suddenly. Kisuke hummed to himself, he would have to give that idea more thought, there were several delicate experiments and one of a kind pieces of equipment in his workshop, while he trusted his son to be careful even he wasn't lucky enough to avoid the occasional bump and break that could set things back by months.

Once through the airlock Kisuke opened the heavy security door, stepped in and reset the security. He checked on the status of his ongoing experiments and made sure that the equipment he had monitoring Karakura's spiritual area was working to his standards. Finishing his checks he stepped over to an alcove that held a padded table, nearby was a small table with several pieces of medical monitoring equipment and a Gikongan dispenser. Kisuke quickly attached the leads from a heart monitor to his chest and an oxygen sensor to the end of his finger. Then he laid down on the cushion and swallowed a Gikongan, forcing his spiritual body from his Gigai. Standing up he stretched and flexed his limbs to reacquaint himself with his spiritual body. He hissed as his fingers and toes tingled and his joints twinged with pain. Transitioning out of his Gigai was almost always painful these days, but considering that this model had outlasted all of his previous designs by a considerable margin he was willing to put up with the discomfort. He ran a few checks and tests to monitor the Gigai's condition, the Gikongan he was using was a minimal one it would provide enough neural stimulus to keep the Gigai 'alive' but that was it. The Gikongan had no higher programming and Kisuke could only leave it for 72 hours without providing the Gigai with additional life support. Without the additional support after 72 hours the Gigai would start to break down and Kisuke would not be able to use it again. After ensuring that everything was as he expected Kisuke went to another cabinet. He unlocked it and took out a bundle of cloth, it had been a long time since he had worn this outfit. The cloth was the color of a deep shadow and was one of Kisuke's more ingenious designs, the fabric would mask his spiritual signature, allowing him to move unnoticed, even by his own monitoring equipment. While Kisuke possessed the skill to suppress his Reiatsu below the notice of most Shinigami he wasn't sure who might be on patrol and wanted to make sure that he was not noticed tonight. Wrapping the dark grey cloak around his shoulders and lifting up the hood, Kisuke slipped out of the Shoten. Using Shunpo, he stepped lightly through the air, quickly leaving the area of his shop and made his way across town. Coming to a halt outside a partially opened second story window, he paused for a minute before tapping briskly on the window sill. A moment passed before the drapes were pulled aside, revealing a scruffy looking dark haired man.

“Kisuke? Something up?” The man asked quietly as he opened the window fully and slid the screen to the side, allowing Kisuke to enter the room.

“Sorry to drop by unannounced Isshin, but I have a few questions.”

“You want to know if I've noticed what's going on with Ichigo and that Shinigami who's taken up residence in his closet, right?”

“Kuchiki is sleeping in his closet?” Kisuke asked in a slightly stunned voice.

“Kuchiki eh? Never thought that a noble would stoop to that.” Isshin commented with a chuckle.

“Rukia was adopted into the clan, she grew up in Inuzuri and entered the Academy before the Kuchiki acted.” Kisuke explained, “She's an unseated member of Squad 13.”

“Ah, I knew I'd heard of her before. Kaien mentioned her before he was killed.”

Kisuke nodded, “Aye, she was there with Ukitake.”

Isshin rubbed a hand over his face, “That's rough, but she seems to be teaching Ichigo what he needs to know.”

“Good, I didn't think Ukitake would send anyone on a solo mission to the Living World who wasn't capable.”

“Yeah, Juu-san knows what he's doing.” Isshin agreed, “By the way, what's with that Gikongan Ichigo's got?”

“Eh?” Kisuke blinked, “How did you find out about him?”

“It was the day we visited Masaki's grave. A Hollow showed up while I was visiting with the caretaker. Ichigo jumped in and rescued Karin and Yuzu, then sent them with the Gikongan to me, while he fought.” Isshin explained.

“Are the girls okay?” Kisuke asked.

“Yeah, they've had a few nightmares, but they'll recover.” Isshin said with a dismissive wave, “The Gikongan did pretty well as 'Ichigo', but he's more emotional and moves differently.”

“Ah, so that's how you figured it out.”

“Yep, but I must say this one fits Ichigo better than a lot I've seen.”

“Well, that's good. You should be thankful that I couldn't get the version that Rukia ordered.” Kisuke said with a smile.

“Oh?”

“No one should be subjected to 'Chappie'. It's got to be the most obnoxious personality template ever to be applied to a Gikongan.”

Isshin cringed, “Not one of your designs then?”

“Not that I'd admit,” Kisuke answered with a wink which caused Isshin to laugh quietly. “What? I never thought it would become popular. I was annoyed when I wrote the program. The ladies of the Women's Association had been on my back for more than a week about what I should name the Gikongan, what the dispensers should look like, and what their personalities should be like. Now I can't go back and adjust it.”

“Okay, so if this isn't the one that Rukia wanted, which one is it?”

Kisuke took a breath and blew it out slowly, “That's a little hard to explain... The Gikongan dispenser I sold to Rukia ended up being from a shipment of damaged merchandise. I was planning on running a few tests on it and then disposing of it. It never had the personality template Kido applied to it.”

“No template?” Isshin broke in with shock, “Just what came out of it then?”

“That Gikongan is a Mod Soul, I think it's one of the high speed ones with a powerful kick. Somehow it escaped notice when the rest were destroyed by the Soul Society. I tried to collect it, but Rukia took it back, reminding me that I wasn't required to get it back since I work outside of the laws of the Soul Society.” Kisuke explained with a shrug, “It didn't look like it was going to be too much trouble, so I didn't force the issue.”

“A Mod Soul eh?” Isshin said with a nod, “Well that could explain the toy lion Yuzu found in Ichigo's room last time she cleaned. She thought it was so cute she just had to show it to me. She gave it a big hug, and I could have sworn that it winced when she squeezed it. I made her put it back in Ichigo's room, but I wouldn't be surprised if that toy has the Mod Soul inside.”

“Huh, I never thought of putting a Gikongan into a toy...” Kisuke muttered as he got lost in thought. After a minute he shook his head and looked closely at the dark haired man before him. “Isshin, have you experienced any improvement in your Reiryoku?”

Isshin shook his head negatively, “Other than a slow regaining of my ability to see spirits, Shinigami and the results of spiritual attacks? Not appreciably, every now and then I'll catch a flicker of something further out, and it was hard to miss when Rukia gave her power to Ichigo. It broke the seal I put on his Reiryoku when Masaki was killed.”

“You sealed him?”

“I had to. Ichigo's always been able to see spirits. He was only nine and he was attracting the attentions of Hollows. I couldn't defend him from something I could no longer see or sense, the only option I had was to put a seal on his Reiryoku and work on toughening him up. I figured if I could work on him for a couple of years then he'd have a slim chance, once the seal broke, to survive an encounter with a Hollow.”

“Ah,” Kisuke gave an understanding nod. “May I have your permission to train Ichigo if he needs it?”

Isshin raised an eyebrow, “If he needs it? What's going on Kisuke?”

Kisuke sighed, “I'm not sure yet, but I've got a feeling that something is on the horizon and it's not good.”

“Hm,” Isshin mused, “While I've known you, your hunches have been pretty accurate, and unless I get my Shinigami powers back I won't be able to train him... Alright Kisuke, you have my permission to train Ichigo. Just try to keep him in one piece.”

“Oh, I'm sure I can do that.” Kisuke said with a smile, “I won't do anything to Ichigo that I wouldn't do to Haruto.”

“Haruto?”

Kisuke nodded as he went to the window and prepared to leave. “You should stop by the shop, I'll introduce you.” he added with a grin as he leapt from the sill and sped off into the dark.

Isshin shook his head as he pulled the screen closed, chuckling quietly at Kisuke's love of secrets. Unless an emergency came up at the clinic, he'd be able to drop by the Shoten the following afternoon to meet this mysterious Haruto.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a Monster Chapter this time - on my home machine this one is 20 pages...
> 
> Names and Places:  
> Jibakurai – Soul Society name for a 'chained soul', a spirit that is bound to a location and is slowly turning into a full Hollow.

Once Isshin had seen his last patient of the day he headed across town to pay a visit to the Urahara Shoten. As he expected Jinta and Ururu were messing about in the yard. He waved to them and entered the shop. After a moment Tessai came out from the back.

“Ah Kurosaki-san! What can I do for you today?”

“Afternoon Tessai,” Isshin returned, “Kisuke dropped by last night and mentioned that I might want to stop by so that he could introduce me to a 'Haruto'?”

Tessai nodded, “They're training right now. If you give me a moment I'll let them know you're here.”

“Sure, I'll need to be home for dinner, but I'm in no hurry.”

Tessai led Isshin to the residence at the back of the shop and offered a seat at a low table. As Isshin made himself comfortable, Tessai moved to the corner of the room and lifted a trap door. Once it was open the large man dropped into the revealed void. While Isshin had never seen Kisuke's underground training space he knew that it existed and if his Reiryoku was ever freed he had a standing invitation to use the 'basement' to recover his skills.

After a few minutes Tessai returned and offered Isshin some tea. Isshin accepted and Tessai went off to the kitchen to put the kettle on. Soon more people emerged from the trap door, first was Kisuke, who was followed by a young man with long, flaming red hair. Two more red heads climbed out of the hole, followed by a young man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Kisuke.

Once the four young men settled at the table, Isshin took a closer look. It was fairly evident that the three red haired boys were related, but Isshin found his attention drawn to the fourth young man. There was no doubt in his mind that this person was related to Kisuke. Isshin could also see that there was a high probability the young man was related to Shihōin Yoruichi as well, from his light caramel colored skin and startling gold eyes. Kisuke took a seat at the table and snapped his fan open, looking at Isshin expectantly.

Isshin felt one side of his face draw up into a smirk and knew that his eyes glinted with mischief. He leapt over the table and glomped onto Kisuke, sending them both rolling across the floor. At the same time he cried out with exaggerated emotion, “Ah Kisuke! Papa Isshin is so proud of you!”

Kisuke responded to the sudden tackle by repeatedly whacking Isshin over the head with his closed fan and complaining loudly, “Ack! Off! Off!” While the rest of the room's occupants burst into laughter.

Eventually Kisuke was able to find enough leverage to fling Isshin off, and the room settled. Isshin retook his seat and got a serious look on his face, “So Kisuke, how did this happen?”

“Well... In the usual manner I'd expect.” Kisuke replied drily.

Isshin glared at the shopkeeper, “I'm not joking now Kisuke. This young man is obviously related to you and Yoruichi. I want to know where you've been hiding him.”

“Mah, mah Isshin, I won't let you put all the blame on me. As near as I can figure, Haruto was taken from us when he was only a few hours old.”

“Taken? How and by whom?” Isshin asked sharply as expressions of shock and growing anger crossed his face.

Kisuke sighed, “By someone I once considered a friend. He took Haruto from his crib and used some kind of Kido to seal our memories, forcing us to forget that he'd even been born.”

“Does Yoruichi know?”

Kisuke shook his head, “No, she's been traveling, and I don't have any way of contacting her.”

Isshin cringed at the thought of what Kisuke would face once the boy's mother found out. Looking back at the young man Isshin figured that while Kisuke would be sporting some amazing bruises for a time once Yoruichi returned, she wouldn't take too long to forgive him. “You have taken care of who took him, right?”

“While Benihime and I would love to... It isn't possible at the moment. The man who took Haruto is important in the country where he lives, and right now punishing him is not an option. There would be too much chaos if he lost his position, and a lot of innocent bystanders could die before things stabilize.” Kisuke admitted with a sigh, “Right now leaving things as they are keeps unwanted attention off of Haruto.”

Isshin whistled, “I don't envy you explaining this to Shihōin.”

Kisuke slumped and nodded his head in understanding. “Any way, allow me to introduce you properly. Kurosaki Isshin, let me present Weasley Bill, the twins Fred and George, and finally my son Urahara Haruto.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Kurosaki-sama,” Haruto said as he offered a seated bow.

“Yare, yare! None of that now, call me Isshin! That other makes me feel old.” Isshin answered with a grin.

“As you wish Isshin-san,” Haruto answered.

Isshin nodded, “I think you'll get along fine with Ichigo. Just don't take his scowling too personally. He's worn that expression since he lost his mother, and it's gotten stuck. Now I must be off, I need to get home before the girls, or Yuzu will scold me.”

Once Isshin excused himself he got up and left the shop. Kisuke and the others enjoyed their tea for a few minutes before Haruto spoke, “Dad, what was all that when Isshin-san tackled you?”

“Eh?”

“He called himself 'Papa Isshin' and exclaimed how proud he was of you.”

“Ah that, well Isshin is actually quite a bit older than me.”

“Really? I would have said you were both about the same age,” Bill interjected.

Kisuke nodded, “Shinigami don't age like Humans or Wizards.”

“Isshin's Shinigami?” Haruto asked, “Why couldn't I feel his Reiatsu?”

“It's been sealed,” Kisuke explained. “He was attacked and badly injured during a mission here in the Living World and something happened to lock it down. Isshin has been stuck here for the past sixty or so years. He's been declared dead in the Soul Society, and without access to his Reiryoku it isn't safe for him to go back. After recovering from his wounds Isshin went to school to become a medical Doctor. Then about twenty years ago he fell in love with Kurosaki Masaki and they got married. Now Isshin runs that neighborhood medical clinic I pointed out to you the other day while we patrolled, and raises his three children. There's Ichigo, who's a year younger than Haruto, then the twins, Yuzu and Karin, who are about eleven now.”

“Is that why you introduced us to him?” Haruto asked, “just in case we ran into them?”

“Hm, yes and no. It's good for you to know that you can go to Isshin if you're in that part of town. He can be trusted with anything you may need to tell him and he can help if you've been wounded during a patrol, but I also wanted you to meet him so that I can warn you. Isshin's children don't know that he was once a Shinigami, and unless he regains access to his Reiryoku I don't think he plans on telling them.”

“But if they're his kids, wouldn't they have a high potential of having significant Reiryoku levels themselves?” Bill asked.

Kisuke nodded, “Yes, they do. I'm not sure about Isshin's daughters, but his son's Reiryoku is impressive.” Kisuke pointed his fan at Haruto and the twins, “Do you remember the young man wearing the Shihakusho on top of the school the day we met? I pointed him out again when I took you on your first patrol.”

Haruto and the twins nodded. They easily remembered the young man with bright orange hair and an outrageous amount of Reiryoku swirling around him.

“That was Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but he became Shinigami this past May. The young woman with him was Kuchiki Rukia, she's a member of the Gotei 13 from the Soul Society, and has been training Ichigo on the basics. From what you've reported about when you see them on your patrols they've been focusing on primarily on Zanjutsu and soul burials. Which is part of the reason I've had you three focus so much on Kido and spiritual awareness.

“Ichigo has several friends that you should be aware of as well, so when you see him around town pay attention to who he's with. You don't need to introduce yourselves yet, but you should make yourselves aware of who his allies are. I have a feeling that with as much Reiryoku as Ichigo lets out on a regular basis he could start affecting his friends.”

“What could happen to them?” Haruto asked, concern coloring his voice.

“Nothing dire... at least I don't think so, there isn't much research on what regular exposure to a strong source of Reiryoku can do to a 'living' or 'human' soul,” Kisuke hedged, “but what I have been able to find has indicated that being around strong sources of Reiryoku can encourage a 'living' or 'human' soul to develop in, lets say, 'unusual' ways.”

“What kind of ways.” Haruto pushed.

“Most commonly, a person will simply build up a tolerance for high levels of Reiatsu. Sometimes being around strong Reiryoku can cause a person to develop abilities to perceive souls and hollows. With a high enough level of exposure over an extended period of time a person may find they have gained enough Reiryoku of their own to fight and survive a hollow's attack.” Kisuke explained, “As Fred and George have seen, this isn't a bad thing. With training, an increased level of Reiryoku can be used to learn several Shinigami arts.”

“But, Ichigo's friends won't have any training.” Fred put in.

“True, they don't right now,” Kisuke agreed. “That's part of why I want you to figure out who they are, and keep an eye open for anything unusual that they may do. If you see anything then we'll figure out if they need training and go from there.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Haruto grabbed a towel off of a nearby rock to mop the sweat from his brow. He was feeling pretty good about his progress. Today he’d focused his training on Kido and working to a point where he could leave off the long spirit chants. While this made the spells less powerful, it had the advantage of quickness which could be telling in combat situations. Early on in his training with Tessai they found that Haruto appeared to have a strong affinity with Hado chants which generated or directed electricity. “Hado no yon – Byakurai” was a particular favorite of Haruto's. It shot a bolt of electricity from the ends of his fingers and while training Haruto found that he could fire the spell repeatedly with only a single short incantation. Kisuke had told him that this could be an indication of what kind or powers his Zanpakuto would wield in Shikai. Haruto had agreed, since his Zanpakuto spirit took on the form of a storm phoenix inside his spirit world.

Reaching the top of the ladder Haruto made his way to the kitchen to check on how close things were to dinner, before heading to the bath for a quick shower before eating. As he finished Haruto heard the Twins arrive, they had spent the past few afternoons catching up on their mail order business and setting up a local production site through the Tokyo Branch of Gringotts. This had been something the two tricksters had been contemplating ever since they lost their shop in Diagon Alley and began traveling with Haruto. Now that they had been introduced to the world of Shinigami and Hollows, running a joke shop didn't seem to be as fulfilling. This didn't mean that they no longer enjoyed creating new jokes or tricks, but they didn't want to be saddled with the day to day running of a shop if they found that Haruto needed their assistance. So, with Haruto's help they wrote up a few contracts and agreements to produce and market their ideas through a storefront operated by Gringotts. They even came up with a few products that could be safely sold on the mundane market, which Kisuke agreed to carry in his shop.

After dinner Kisuke looked at the boys with a decided gleam in his eyes. Haruto noticed it first and looked back.

“Okay Tou-san, what's up?”

Kisuke grinned, “Tomorrow night Karakura is going to host the filming of an episode of 'Burari'...”

Breaking in, Jinta groaned loudly, “No way Boss! Not going! The guy's a total joke.”

Haruto and the Weasley's shared a look as Kisuke waved a hand, dismissing Jinta's outburst. “That's okay Jinta, I need you to stay here at the Shoten with Ururu anyway.”

“Eh?” Jinta answered, suddenly looking very disappointed that he wasn't being 'forced' to participate.

“What's 'Burarai'?” asked George.

“It's a television show, where this fellow who calls himself 'The Century's Spirit Medium' goes to places that are said to be haunted and performs exorcisms.” Jinta explained in a grumpy voice.

“You seem to know quite a bit about it if the show is such a joke.” Fred commented.

“A lot of people watch it. Can't help hearing about what happens on it.” Jinta griped, then shrugged, “I've watched a couple of episodes. The guy who performs the exorcisms acts like a rock star, has a bunch of stupid catch phrases, dresses up in these outrageous costumes, and wears a cape. I can't take anyone like that seriously.” he ended, shaking his head.

“Yes,” Kisuke spoke, bringing attention back to himself. “Anyway, I was able to procure enough tickets so that Haruto, Fred, George, and Tessai may accompany me to the event. I think it wouldn't hurt if we were in the audience. The location they've chosen for the filming certainly has the potential of having a spirit or two in residence and the production could stir things up. I wouldn't be surprised if Ichigo and Rukia were there, so it could be a good opportunity to see them at work.”

Haruto narrowed his eyes shrewdly, “You want to check up on them don't you.”

Kisuke opened his fan reflexively to hide his surprise at Haruto seeing to the core of his idea so quickly, “Well, yes. I know that you three have been putting plenty of time training and learning what you need to know to deal with Hollows, and over the last few nights you've shown me that you can take care of yourselves on a regular patrol, but Ichigo is still a full time student and is basically learning on the job. I'm curious to see how he's doing, and if I should offer him a chance to train with you three.”

“Train with us?” Haruto asked.

“From what I've seen during your patrols over the past few nights, Ichigo is looking like he's going to be very strong with Zanjutsu, but I don't think he's been able to put much effort or time into training with Kido. I think your training and his would complement each other and he would make a good addition to the team you are forming. Haruto I know that you have been the leader of your team so far, but I'm also sensing that it isn't a position you're completely comfortable in, right?”

“True enough,” Haruto answered with a nod. “I can do it... and I will if I have to, but I've had enough of being pushed into the lead.”

Kisuke nodded back, “You get that from me I think. I'm always more comfortable when someone else is the leader, it took years for your mother to convince me that I could be a captain in the Gotei. Then when I got the position I changed the squad's purpose and created the Research and Development section.”

“Which squad were you captain of?” Fred asked.

“The Twelfth, which is now headed by Kurotsuchi Mayuri who used to be my third seat. He's brilliant, but too focused on Science for Science's sake. I had to regularly rein in his tendencies to view everything and everyone as something to experiment on.” Kisuke answered with some regret showing in his voice.

“I take it that you'd rather we not ever run into him?” George voiced.

Kisuke nodded, “That would be best, I don't know what he'd make of you... and that's when he's the most dangerous.”

“Okay, we'll try to avoid him. What does he look like?” Haruto asked.

“Thankfully he has a very distinctive appearance, so he should be easy to spot if he's in the open. Mayuri likes to wear white and black face paint and his hair is royal blue in color. I'm not sure what he's done to make it that way, but I know that the blue is his 'natural' color now.” Kisuke explained, “However, I also know that before I left Soul Society Mayuri was working on a way to camouflage himself, so that he could sneak up on the subjects he wanted to study, I have no idea how far he might go, or what kind of success he’s had on that project. He certainly hadn’t shown any qualms on experimenting on himself or others to achieve his goals.”

Haruto thought back to his adventures with James' invisibility cloak and shuddered, “Great, so basically we need to be alert if we might be in any area where he'd be around, especially if he's been made aware of our presence, because he could be anywhere right?”

“Eh, yeah that's about right,” Kisuke said with a grimace. “He's definitely not someone I want you tangling with if you can avoid it. However, unless you end up in Soul Society I think you'll be pretty safe, he never showed any enjoyment being outside of the lab, unless it was required for his experiments.”

Haruto frowned, “Sound’s a lot like Professor Snape, from back at Hogwarts. He was always in the dungeons, either in his classroom or his labs.”

George and Fred shook their heads, “No, this guy sounds worse. Professor Snape would at least join everyone for meals, and on the map we often saw him heading out of the castle in the evenings or weekends. He would either head for Hogsmeade, or trek out into the forest. True, he was probably gathering ingredients, but he doesn’t trust others easily, so he likely wouldn’t trust anyone to go and fetch items for him.” said George.

“And we did see him just wander around the grounds for an hour or so several times, if the weather was nice.” added Fred.

Haruto nodded his head in acceptance, “Ok, so Professor Snape wasn’t as bad. Still means we’ll have to keep our eyes open if we’re ever in a location where this Mayuri might be.”

Kisuke hummed, “I’ve no plans on allowing you to visit Soul Society without a proper escort in the foreseeable future, but I won’t go so far as to say you’ll never visit while you’re still ‘alive’ as it were.”

“You won’t be going with us?” Haruto questioned.

“Unless certain things change, the Gates of the Soul Society are closed to me. It would take a ton of power and force on this side for me to break the Geas that bans my presence there, and that could end up putting a tear between the universes.” Kisuke explained, “I would rather not end up responsible for providing a ‘highway’ between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Living World.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

“Haruto! Are you ready yet?” Kisuke called.

“Almost! I just need to grab my camera.” Haruto answered, emerging from his room a moment later. Looking at Kisuke he sighed, wondering if he'd ever be able to convince his Dad to dress a little more fashionably. Haruto really didn't mind it all that much, but it seemed like Kisuke had nothing in his wardrobe except for sets of olive green “pajamas” and black jackets, which were always accessorized with his signature green and white striped hat, wooden sandals, paper fan and cane. It was little wonder that Haruto's Dad had earned the nickname “Getaboshi” or “Hat and Clogs” in the neighborhood. In contrast, Haruto was dressed in a black and grey two tone long sleeve tee-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans. He'd accessorized his outfit with a leather belt made from black dragon hide and had a purple bandana tied loosely around his neck. Haruto carried a pair of black and purple trainers in his hand.

When Haruto arrived in the main room Kisuke tossed him what looked like a small candy dispenser. Haruto looked at it closely and found that he could sense that the plastic tube had a spiritual presence.

“What's this?” Haruto asked.

“Its a Gikongan dispenser,” Kisuke explained. “If you want to jump into your Shinigami form, just swallow the tablet. The Gikongan will temporarily replace your soul and make sure that your body gets out of the danger zone. They are standard issue for Shinigami who are deployed to the Living World on extended missions where they utilize Gigai. This one is somewhat special, I'm trying out something a little different. Usually Gikongan dispensers are pre-programmed with an artificial intelligence and personality to allow them to blend in to the human population. This one has a slightly above average intelligence, plenty enough to care for your body. It can speak, read, and write Japanese, make simple choices, and follow basic instructions. Although I wouldn't trust it to do your homework for you at the moment. I've programmed it with a few survival skills, like running and hiding, but it doesn't have a pre-programmed personality.”

“I'd think that without a personality it will really stand out.” Haruto commented.

“True enough,” Kisuke agreed with a nod. “However, unlike the Gikongan supplied by the Soul Society to their Shinigami, which are isolated in their dispensers until they are used, I've modified the dispenser of this one so that it can gather information from the outside environment. As part of its basic programming, I've directed it to learn how to act like the person who has it in their possession. If I've been successful then the longer you keep this dispenser with you the better the Gikongan inside will be able to mimic you in everyday situations.”

“I suppose then we should call it 'him' then?”

Kisuke nodded, “Probably a good idea. You should also think of a name for him, it will help solidify the personality that develops. I would recommend interacting with him on a fairly regular basis, that should encourage the growth of his skills and abilities.”

“Okay, I'll give it some thought. How long will the effect last if I use the Gikongan?”

“Until you return to your body.”

“What happens to the Gikongan when I return?”

Kisuke's expression took on a thoughtful cast. “Well... When a Shinigami uses a standard Gikongan to separate from a Gigai, the Gikongan is 'overwritten' by the Shinigami's soul when it returns and the Gikongan tablet is eventually broken down and absorbed by the Gigai. That is why the dispenser is important, because it imprints each raw Gikongan tablet with a store of information and a personality. Remember, for Shinigami using a Gigai is temporary. A Gigai from the Soul Society lasts about three months before it begins to break down. There are ways of extending the usefulness of a Gigai, and I have developed a couple of improved models that are for extended use, are anatomically indistinguishable from a living body, or have special features, but a Gigai is still only a temporary housing for a soul. Both Gigai and Gikongan are considered simply tools that allow a Shinigami to interact with the Living World.

“The body you're in actually began as one of my improved Gigai. Being born from two Shinigami parents there's no way you could have not been born in a spirit form. While I don't remember, because of what Dumbledore did to us when he took you away, I must have created it to house your soul. From what I can tell, your history with the Wizarding World modified it even more, even my best Gigai start to break down after ten years or so. Because you are still inside the Gigai I made for you when you were born, and it is showing no signs of breaking down, I had to make a few changes to this Gikongan. It won't be absorbed by your body. When you wish to return it will have to be ejected from your body and returned to the dispenser once you jump back in. This Gikongan is also able to learn and remember what it does while in your body. A Gikongan from Soul Society 'starts' at the same point every time, unless the Shinigami changes the programing embedded in the dispenser. Remember what happened on the roof of the school with Ichigo? That sphere I knocked out with my cane was a modified Gikongan.” Kisuke lifted his cane and showed Haruto the enameled seal embedded in its end. “This seal, when infused with a bit of Reiryoku, lets me 'knock' a soul, or a Gikongan free of its body. I'll teach you how to use one, and we can come up with one for you after tonight.”

Haruto looked at the dispenser in his hand, “Do you think I'll need this tonight?”

“Probably not,” Kisuke admitted, “but the longer it is with you the better he will be at acting like you, also it's better to be safe than sorry. The location they've chosen for the filming definitely has the potential of having some Jibakurai, attached to it.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Ichigo looked out over the crowd of spectators, he didn't want to be here, but his father had decided that it would be a 'Fun Family Event' and had come home the night before waving a handful of tickets. Yuzu had been thrilled, after all it was one of her favorite television programs. Karin was indifferent, but Ichigo knew that she wouldn't complain much. All of which made Ichigo's objections overruled before he had a chance to voice them. What Yuzu and his father saw in the show completely baffled him. Since neither of them had shown any evidence that they could see spirits, and the cameras they used to film the show were only capable of showing the occasional shadow, a lot of what happened on screen looked like bad special effects. The running commentary from the show's two supporting commentators only made it worse, since it was obvious to Ichigo that they didn't have a clue about what was really going on. Giving a heartfelt sigh he scanned the crowd again. It didn't take much to spot Chad, since he towered over everyone else, and Ichigo figured that Keigo and Mizuiro were probably nearby. Next he caught a flash of red hair he initially thought belonged to Orihime but turned out to be a pair of twin boys. They looked a little familiar, but Ichigo couldn't remember where he might have seen them before.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

The sea of people who had gathered for the filming reminded Haruto a little of the afternoon just prior to the Quidditch World Cup. The atmosphere was filled with a similar joyful excitement as the spectators milled about, following the instructions of the show coordinators, and jockeying for the best positions along the barriers which held them back from where they would be filming the action. They had arrived early, and now Kisuke was taking advantage of the crowds to coach Haruto on some of the finer aspects of sensing Reiryoku. First he turned to Fred and George and whispered some instructions to them and then turned to face Haruto.

“Haruto, I want you to keep track of where the Twins are at all times tonight, but I don't want you to use your eyes.” Kisuke said as they choose a point along the barriers to watch the evening's events.

“What?” Haruto asked, confused by the request.

“During our training you've shown that you have a high sensitivity to Reiryoku and Reishi. I want you to use that sensitivity to track the Twins as they work their way through the crowd. At any time I may ask you to point out where they are.” Kisuke explained. “With the skills you've already been able to show me during our games of 'hide and seek' and 'tag' this should be a fairly simple task.”

Haruto nodded, keeping track of the twins had become almost second nature to him. During their evening and night patrols, because he could move much faster than they could he often tracked their Reiryoku and the patterns they left in the Reishi to know where they were. So while they walked a regular patrol route, Haruto would run ahead, or off to either side so the three of them could cover a larger area.

“Now, while you are keeping track of the Twins, I also want you to pay attention to what's being filmed, especially if the crowds stir up any Jibakurai. I'll also be asking for your opinion on Don Kanonji later.” Kisuke instructed, “You may find that you'll be able to follow the action even if they move into the building, but don't force yourself to 'see' what's going on. We can work on that later if you feel like it's possible.”

Haruto looked up at his father with a smile on his face and gave a nod.

“Okay one last thing, tonight we're here to observe only. I don't want you or the twins to involve yourselves in any fighting that may happen. If something catastrophic happens, Tessai and I will take care of it. I want you three to promise me that if you think you're in danger that you'll run away, and then make your way back to the Shoten, agree?”

Haruto and the twins nodded, “Yes sir.”

“Good.” Kisuke said with a sparkle in his eye and a grin, “Now Fred, George, you may go. Remember to pay attention to your surroundings, and stay out of trouble.”

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Chad looked down at the two identical red-heads who had just placed themselves in the way of his path to go and assist Ichigo. For some reason both Ichigo and Rukia had charged the barrier separating the crowd from the filming just as the commentators had announced that Don Kanonji was confronting a 'bad spirit'. Now this pair of twins both had hands placed against his chest in their attempt to keep him from moving.

“You don't want to do that, friend.” the one on the left said.

“Keep calm, it's all under control.” the one on the right continued.

Chad lifted his eyes to look back at where Ichigo and Rukia had been tackled by swarms of security, and saw that Rukia had already been released and a towering man had Ichigo slung over his shoulder. Chad took a step forward, thinking that he should retrieve Ichigo when one of the twins tapped his chest.

“He's fine, Tessai's got him.” the left one spoke again.

“Yeah, he'll take Ichigo back to the Shoten and make sure that the security guards weren't too rough.” said the one on the right.

“Too bad that Tessai is going to miss the rest of the show.” finished the left twin before they both turned to watch what was going on in front of the abandoned hospital. The crowd was cheering as it appeared like a battle with at least one invisible combatant was taking place in front of the doors. Chad watched as a portion of the wall was bashed in by something unseen, Don Kanonji was thrown about a little and then abruptly dragged backwards into the hospital.

The show's commentators immediately began a patter of speculation about what could be happening within the depths of the abandoned building as echoing sounds of running footsteps and occasional crashes and bangs were heard. Video screens behind the commentators displayed shots from remote cameras placed in 'strategic' locations within the building, but all they caught were flickering shadows and hints of movements, as the hallways were not well lit. The twins standing in front of Chad, let out various oohs and aahs with the crowd. When an upper story window broke out everyone's attention focused on it, and Chad could have sworn that he heard Ichigo's voice crying out in a mixture of shock and frustration moving towards the roof.

“Oooh, that one must be sticky.” the left twin commented, his gaze focused on where Chad had thought he'd heard Ichigo's voice.

“Yeah, but at least he won't fall.” answered the one on the right.

“True.”

Chad looked down at the twins, their attention was now clearly focused on the roof. Chad could hear sounds of distant crashes and thuds which sounded like fighting, but he couldn't see any movement. He was getting very frustrated when suddenly a flash of light and a roar sounded from the hospital roof. A stream of sparks drifted into the sky and the commentators started chattering about Don Kanonji's latest victory. A couple of minutes passed and the television star came to the railing that edged the roof to receive his accolades.

Chad peered over the sea of people milling about, trying to spot the fellow in the green and white striped hat, so he could follow him to wherever Ichigo had been taken. The show was wrapping up and the crowd was thinning and he was worried about his friend. A firm tap on his shoulder drew his attention back to the pair of red haired twins who hovered nearby.

“Your friend is in good hands. Tessai has medical training, and he'll want to make sure that your friend isn't suffering from a concussion or anything like that.” The first twin said.

“Yeah, I'm sure you'll find your friend safe at home in the morning.” Agreed the second.

“Just look, that little brunet is with Urahara-san and Haruto right now. She's a friend of yours too, am I right?”

Chad nodded, as he finally located the man in the green and white striped hat and saw Rukia glaring at the older man.

“Then there's nothing to worry about. Your little dark haired friend will be able to go with Urahara-san and make sure that your other friend gets home safely.”

Chad frowned slightly and looked back at the twins, “Who are you?”

“Ah! Where are our manners!” The first twin exclaimed. The twosome then swept imaginary hats from their heads and gave a deep bow. “Weasley Fred and George at your service.”

At the sound of Chad's voice Keigo and Mizurio turned around and saw the pair of twins for the first time.

“Haven't seen you two before. I'm Asano Keigo, and this is Kojima Mizuiro, the tall quiet guy is Sado Yasutora. Are you new in town?” Keigo asked.

“Yes, we've been here for a little over three weeks.” Explained George.

“What brought you to Karakura?” Mizuiro asked.

“Our brother Bill got a job at a bank in Tokyo, and we came to help him settle in.” Fred offered.

“And you stopped Chad, because?”

“The look in his eye reminded us of our brother Charlie, who's got a bit of a habit of charging into the fray and ending up in a bit of a mess. You guys are all students, right?” George asked and waited for nods before continuing, “Take a look over there.” George pointed to one of the large video screens that was airing highlights from the recently taped show. The clip that was airing was one of Ichigo charging forward and being buried under a pile of security guards. “That's sure to be a popular clip. I don't know about here, but at home something like that would get you marked as a hero among your classmates and branded as a troublemaker by the teachers.”

Mizuiro nodded, “It will here too, and Ichigo is already given a hard time because of his hair.”

“What's wrong with his hair?” Asked Fred as he brushed a hand through his own fiery locks.

“Depends, did you bleach yours or is it natural?”

“Natural, our entire family are red heads.” George supplied.

“It's a fairly common stereotype here that people with red hair are impulsive, short tempered, fierce and not too bright. Apt to jump into situations without considering the consequences.” Mizuiro provided with a shrug.

“And your friend Ichigo just provided a perfect example to enforce the stereotype,” Fred groaned.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Ichigo stomped down the stairs after Don Kanonji, his face set in a dark glower while the T.V. Star prattled on about how much of an honor it was to be considered his apprentice, and how this was sure to be one of his highest rated shows ever. As they came out of the front doors, Kanonji was quick to head over to the stage where his commentators were waiting with footage from remote cameras that had been placed inside the abandoned hospital and caught the action of the fight inside the hallways and up on the roof. Ichigo turned and made his way over to where Rukia was facing off with Getaboshi and a younger man who looked like he should be related.

“Nice show,” the young man offered with a smile, “but I think we should look at heading back to the Shoten before Kanonji-san tries to pull Ichigo up onto the stage and in front of the cameras for a second time.”

“Eh? A second time?” Ichigo asked.

The ashen haired youth pointed to one of the big screens that was already showing highlights and they all watched as Ichigo broke through the security lines only to be tacked by a mass of guards. Ichigo paled, realizing that his actions had been caught on tape and were currently being broadcast nationally. He cringed inwardly as he thought about what kind of fallout this could have if any of his school administrators caught wind of it.

“Er, yeah. That's probably a good idea.”

“Of course, there is the point that you probably wouldn't show up to the cameras, being out of your body like you are.” the young man mused.

“Right! Best we get you out of here Kurosaki-kun,” Getaboshi agreed, snapping his fan closed and pointing off to one side, “I think that way will be the quickest way out of these crowds.”

Ichigo and Rukia followed the two men as they slipped quickly through the milling people, to a side gate. The younger man touched the padlock which had chained the fence shut, muttered something and the lock clicked open. He quickly opened the gate, and after letting everyone through he put the chain back and re-locked it. The four of them then walked away from the site and back to the Urahara Shoten. No-one spoke during the walk, and by the time they reached their destination Ichigo was practically vibrating with frustration and a need to know just who these people were, and why it appeared that Rukia trusted them. Or at least Rukia seemed to be alright with following Getaboshi, Ichigo couldn't tell what she thought of the other young man.

Entering the Shoten, the two blonds led Ichigo and Rukia to the back of the shop and through a door. They entered a sitting room with a round low table surrounded by cushions. A tea set sat ready in the center of the table, with several plates of snacks and small sandwiches arrayed around it. The tall man who had been with them earlier stepped into view through another doorway and Getaboshi smiled. “Good! Thanks for having everything ready Tessai, sorry you couldn't stick around for the show. Will you please show Ichigo back to his body and then you can both join us back here. I'm sure that Ichigo will be wanting some explanations for this evening, and the twins are still out.”

The tall man nodded and gestured that Ichigo should follow him. Ichigo rose from his place at the table and headed off after Tessai. Rukia turned a sharp eye at Kisuke and Haruto, “Urahara, why were you at the show?”

“I had tickets, and I thought that Haruto and the twins would be interested in going.” Kisuke answered calmly before continuing, “Kuchiki Rukia, allow me to introduce my son Urahara Haruto.” Kisuke finished with a nod toward Haruto.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kuchiki-san.” Haruto said with a smile and a bow.

“Your son?” Rukia said with a stunned look, “Ukitake Taichou didn't tell me anything about you having a son.”

“Ah, it isn't widely known.” Kisuke replied quietly tugging on the brim of his hat and hiding his face behind his ever-present fan.

Rukia narrowed her eyes at the shopkeeper and decided that it was probably better that she didn't know the details right now, but she would be asking some questions when she returned to the Soul Society. Kisuke served up tea and they waited a couple of minutes for Ichigo to return. It wasn't long before Ichigo came out from the back rooms, rolling his shoulders as he settled his spirit back into his body. Ichigo dropped ungracefully onto one of the cushions and glowered at the two blonds on the far side of the table.

Rukia took one look at Ichigo and gave his arm a smack, “Don't be rude Ichigo.”

Ichigo muttered an apology while a smirking Haruto poured Ichigo a cup of tea. They drank in silence, and sampled some of the small sandwiches and other snacks laid out on the table. Ichigo's initial poor mood ebbed and he began paying closer attention to the others in the room. Rukia remained quietly sipping her tea, but Ichigo could tell that she was very curious about Haruto.

It was about fifteen minutes later when the door which led to the shop opened to allow a pair of red-haired twins to enter. Haruto gestured to the two cushions next to him and they settled in.

“Ah, now that we're all here,” Getaboshi started as he set down his mug, “I suppose that we should go over tonight's events. I feel overall that things went well. However Ichigo, the fight did illuminate a few places where your technique could use some refinement. The size of your Zanpakuto obviously hinders you in combat in enclosed areas. That will be something you'll need to give some practice to.”

Ichigo blinked, 'How did Getaboshi know that he'd gotten his Zanpakuto hung up in the wall? Even if there'd been cameras inside the building he wouldn't have been seen by them since he'd been in his spirit form.' While his thoughts raced Ichigo stuttered out, “H...How?”

Getaboshi smiled behind his fan, his expression fairly screaming that it was something for him to know and for the rest of them to wonder about. Ichigo noticed that the other blond had a similar smile, but the look in his eyes was softer.

“Tou-san watches the world with more than just his eyes.” the younger blond offered.

Ichigo scowled as he thought about what had just been said, was this something like what he'd done to trace the little boy's spirit that had been trapped in the parakeet a couple of weeks back? He supposed it would be possible, but he couldn't think of how he'd go about doing it. He'd have to ask Rukia about it later. “Okay, but what do you suggest I do?”

Getaboshi turned to look at Rukia, “Take him somewhere where he can learn to swing that massive blade of his and not run into walls and such. When he can do that reliably bring him back and he can work with Haruto on sparring.”

Rukia looked a little offended at what Getaboshi said, but nodded reluctantly and stood from the table and grabbed Ichigo's shirtsleeve as he began to protest their sudden 'dismissal'.


	12. Chapter 12

Life at the Shoten was fairly routine for the week following the Don Kanonji filming. Fred and George continued to work with Tessai in trying to harness their Reiatsu so that they could manifest their equivalent of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. Kisuke had finally gathered enough data from their nightly patrols to determine that the elemental spells that they could cast with their Wizarding magic could cleanse a Hollow if it was cast with the correct intent. So Fred, George and Bill were training their minds so that their spells were focused properly. It was an interesting development that, as the Weasleys began to get the hang of consciously guiding and focusing their spells, they were able to cast all their spells more efficiently and their range increased. Tessai felt that in time they would also be able to increase the power of their spells, which would put them on par with most Shinigami. Meanwhile, Haruto was undergoing intense training with Kisuke once he mentioned that he'd been able to 'watch' Ichigo while he'd been fighting inside the abandoned hospital. Kisuke was very impressed with Haruto's ability to 'see' only using his ability to sense Reiryoku and had Haruto working through drills to increase that skill.

Haruto had, after some consideration and discussion with his family, chosen a name for his Gikongan and started 'tutoring' the mod soul in how to act like him around others. Because Kisuke had essentially created something that could learn and observe but didn't have any of the 'pre-programed' personalities like other Gikongan, Haruto found that working with 'Kyle' was somewhat like he would imagine working with someone who had amnesia, or had been caught by a strong 'Obliviate' would be like. Kyle knew how to care for himself, had some basic life skills like reading, writing, and simple math, and he understood how some things worked, but he had to be taught things like how to read traffic signals and what they meant.

When Saturday rolled around Haruto and the Twins were given the day to relax, so they decided to take a long stroll along the river, and possibly check out some of the shops along the way. Fred and George were still looking for places where they might be able to sell their more 'mundane friendly' gags and pranks, and Haruto was looking for some new clothes as he'd gotten a few inches taller since leaving England and his jeans were looking a little short.

Shortly after noon the local schools let out for the day and it wasn't long before the sidewalks and shops became crowded with groups of students as they hung out with friends or made their way home. It had taken a little while for Haruto and the others to get used to the increased population, and the fact that the Japanese seemed to thrive while living in close quarters. Now they found it no trouble to weave in and out of the masses of moving people as they made their way to the shops.

Haruto shivered, it felt like a cold wind had picked up. Suddenly all of the training he'd been doing with his Father had his senses screaming at him. Like someone had flipped a switch the air had suddenly become filled with malice. He stopped and looked up to the sky and then looked over at the twins to see if they had noticed. George and Fred were looking around intently, and Haruto could tell that they were now both on 'high alert'.

“Fred, George, I'm going to have Kyle take my body back to the Shoten,” Haruto voiced quietly as the trio moved out of the shops and back into the throngs on the street. “This feeling reminds me of Hollows.”

Fred and George nodded their agreement and Haruto swallowed the Gikongan that would 'pop' him out of his physical body. He gave 'Kyle' instructions to take his purchases and head back to the Shoten while keeping out of trouble, then turned his sharper senses to the disturbance he'd felt. It didn't take long for Haruto to figure out which direction the waves of 'wrongness' came from and the three of them began making their way to the source. They had only covered a small portion of the distance when they ran across the first of many hollows and what had started as a relaxing day of shopping turned into a marathon of short violent clashes as more and more hollows appeared.

The sky was lightening into dawn when the trio finally managed to get a breather from the seemingly endless skirmishes. George had popped into a convenience store and grabbed some high calorie snacks to help keep their energy up, and they were taking advantage of the lull to gobble down the energy drinks, candy bars and trail mix.

“Haruto, any idea what could have caused this sudden infestation?” Fred asked between bites.

Haruto's brow furrowed in thought as he swallowed his own mouthful, “The only thing I can think of is someone must have used some Hollow Bait. Tou-san showed me a sample in his lab and told me that it was often used to help train upperclassmen at the Shinigami Academy, because depending on the dose you can 'call' varying levels of Hollow. Tou-san also told me that he wouldn't use any in Karakura. Apparently Karakura is prone to having an 'unstable spiritual atmosphere' that would cause the effect of Hollow Bait to be unpredictable.”

“Looks like someone didn't get that memo,” George commented as they all heard the hunting cry of a hollow in the distance. Tossing their trash and wrappers into a nearby bin, the three of them hurried off ready to pick up the fight again to keep the citizens of their adopted hometown safe.

It was around mid morning when Haruto realized that the Hollows were converging on one of the local parks, looking at the sky he saw a growing distortion that looked almost like a tear. Clearing out another pocket of hollows he whistled to Fred and George and pointed towards the disturbance with his Zanpakuto and headed for the park. The twins made short work of the hollows they were fighting and quickly followed. As they got close, Haruto felt a flash of Reiatsu that he identified as coming from Kisuke and changed his course to meet up with his father.

Kisuke snapped his fan open as Haruto and the Twins appeared before him, “You've all done very well since this started,” he praised, “but now we need to work together to keep it from getting out of hand. With this many 'small-fry' Hollows in the area it will attract the attention of some of the stronger levels of Hollow, and that convergence up there bothers me. I want you three to focus on the edges of the park, don't let any hollows leave the area. If more come into the park that's okay, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu and I will take care of them. If anything comes through that rip up there I want you to hold back until I call. Kurosaki-kun is already in the park and I've got a hunch, with how much Reiatsu he's putting out, that his Reiryoku is on the verge of a growth spurt.”

Haruto looked toward the park and frowned, he could feel Ichigo easily having gotten used to sensing him during the evening patrols with the twins, but he could also feel several other strong spiritual presences in the park and a short distance away, “Tou-san, who else is here?”

Kisuke grinned, “I wondered if you'd pick that up. There are several members of the Onmitsukidō watching, the one closest to Ichigo is a Quincy, and the two you sense on the bridge are a couple of Kurosaki's friends, Yastora Sado and Inoue Orihime. They've been affected by all the Reiryoku that Kurosaki's been shedding and have apparently developed powers of their own.”

Haruto nodded and turned, readying himself for the job that his dad had given him. The twins took up their places beside him and the trio set out to confine the Hollows within the borders of the park.

It was George's gasp that brought Haruto's attention to the widening rip in the sky and the massive creature that was pulling the tear wider. It was huge, taller than any of the buildings surrounding the park, and Haruto was glad that the monster's attention appeared to be focused on something at it's feet. Taking a few quick Shunpo steps into the air Haruto saw that the creature was zeroing in on Kurosaki and the Quincy. Sensing that his father was also in that vicinity and that he was calm. Haruto found that he wasn't worried, but he did want a closer look. Waving to Fred and George he pointed toward Kisuke and started to run in that direction. Haruto could feel the twins behind him and kept his pace to one where they could follow. They reached Kisuke and the others just as the gargantuan Hollow shot a beam of energy from its mouth which Kurosaki caught on the edge of his Zanpakuto, creating some kind of shield which stopped the beam. Waves of Reiatsu washed over them, ruffling their clothing and hair and causing the edges of Kisuke's coat to snap and pop. Haruto could see that the beam of energy was violently pushing on Kurosaki's shield and that he was straining to fend off the attack. With a roar of frustration and rage Kurosaki's Reiryoku exploded out of him, sending a searing streak of electric blue light tearing up the side of the giant Hollow. The Hollow screamed and retreated to the rip it had torn in the sky, appearing to pull the tattered edges over itself. Kurosaki's victory was short lived as his massive expenditure of Reiryoku caused him to collapse and his Zanpakuto to destabilize until the Quincy stepped up and drew off some of the energy from Kurosaki's rebounding Reiryoku.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

In the mountains west of Karakura a black cat paused in its travels. Its whiskers quivered as the air around it was disturbed by an unfelt breeze. The currents of Reishi the cat had been following on its meandering travels were unsettled, something was causing waves and that usually spelled trouble. Turning east the cat grumbled to itself as it set off, flickering through the trees, “Well Yoruichi, I suppose that it is about time I check in with my favorite troublemaker, after all it has been a few years.” A grin crossed the cat's face as it contemplated the greeting it would receive once it reached its destination. Ah well, a good bed and good food was always worth putting up with Kisuke's initial exuberance.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

It was a very tired group that gathered around the table at the Shoten after cleaning things up at the park. After Kurosaki had driven off the giant Hollow, which Haruto had heard Rukia call a 'Menos Grande' the rest of them had made sure that any stragglers were cleansed. Kisuke had offered to heal the Quincy, in thanks for what he had done for Kurosaki, but the young man had refused any assistance and left the park as soon as he was able. Rukia let them know that she and Kon would make sure that the exhausted Kurosaki made it home safely, which left the rest of them to make their way back to Urahara's. They were welcomed home by Kyle, who had managed to put together some tea and snacks. Haruto and Kisuke were pleased by the Gikongan's efforts and everyone appreciated the gesture. Before long Kisuke and Tessai were sending the trio off to bed. No one complained about the absurdly early bed time as they were all bone tired after fighting Hollows for almost twenty-four hours straight.

“The boys did well,” Tessai commented as he picked up the tea cups, snack wrappers and plates.

“They did,” Kisuke agreed, “I've a feeling that they're going to need the teamwork they're building.”

“You'll need to bring Kurosaki into the group soon, or he won't trust them.”

Kisuke nodded, “Aye, and Haruto will have the same problem. We'll need to show them that their strengths lie in different areas and that they can work together. For now though, they've earned a rest. I'd like to do a bit of poking around in the Wizarding part of Tokyo in the next couple of days if Bill is willing to assist me. We need to know more of what is going on over in Europe and England. I've a feeling that Haruto's old life isn't quite over yet.”


	13. Mom?

Yoruichi slipped quietly through the city streets recognizing the heavy signs of disturbed Reiatsu that indicated the aftermath of a pitched battle. Her whiskers trembled as she picked up on the fading signs of Kisuke's Kido attacks and the energy signature of his Zanpakuto. She also noted many signs of the Onmitsukidō's presence and wondered at what could be the cause of their involvement. Nearing her destination her fur began to stand on end as the new layers of unusual Kido around the shoten tested her intentions and she began to wonder just what Kisuke had been up to lately.

\--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--oo--

Kisuke and Tessai were just finishing their morning tea when Ururu slid the door open and meekly came inside. Kisuke raised his head to see what she wanted.

“Kisuke-san..., Meow-kun” Ururu said as she pointed outside. Kisuke jumped to his feet and practically sprinted outside, his wooden Geta clattering over the shop floor, before joyfully scooping up the black cat who stood at the corner of the house and beginning to fuss noisily over it. Jinta and Ururu stood back next to Tessai, keeping out of the way of the currently manic shopkeeper.

After several minutes of twirling about and hoisting the black cat up in his arms while cooing joyfully, Kisuke gathered the cat into his arms and brought it into the store. Thinking quickly Kisuke proceeded to enter his home at the back of the store and went directly to the trap door which led to his underground training room. Holding the cat in one arm he opened the door and jumped into the revealed void, knowing that Tessai would close the door behind him. Once in the training room he set the cat on the ground and let out a serious sigh.

“What's up Kisuke? I've never seen you turn serious so soon after my arrival.” Yoruichi rumbled in the deceptively male voice she had in this form.

“Well... there have been quite a few serious things happening lately... And I think that you'll find that most of what I have to say will be upsetting.” Kisuke admitted as he sank into a seated posture on the ground.

“Dear, we've been together for far too long for you to worry about upsetting me. The worst I'll do is try to knock a little sense into your tough skull before I forgive you. You know that I'll support and help you no matter what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into.”

Kisuke cringed, “Mah mah, I don't always get myself into trouble.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” Yoruichi replied with a feline smirk.

“Now, I want you to understand first off that what I have to tell you is not all my fault. There were others involved and there was no way I could have known that they would have taken the steps that they did alright?” Kisuke said while making pleading gestures with his hands for Yoruichi to remain calm. “Do you remember that wizard Dumbledore who used to come around every so often?”

“How could I forget him, his dress sense was atrocious.”

“Yes, well it appears that a few years ago he took something from us and then caused us to forget...” Kisuke began to explain, his voice growing quiet as he tried to keep himself from imagining just how badly Yoruichi would take what he was about to tell her.

“Kisuke, you're making me worried now, just what did this wizard take from us?”

Kisuke took off his ever present hat and started fiddling with the brim. He was unsure just how Yoruichi would take the news and now that he was faced with telling her, his mind just couldn't come up with the words.

“Kisuke?” Yoruichi murmured as she made herself comfortable in his lap, realizing that Kisuke needed her touch to calm himself enough to speak with her. The very fact that her man had taken off his hat and started fidgeting with it screamed out to her that he was beyond disturbed by the news he had to impart, and that his mind was turning in circles so quickly that he couldn't get the words out.

Kisuke let out a heart felt sigh as he settled his hat back onto his head and dropped a hand to start stroking her fur, “I guess the only way I can say this is to just come out with it... Dumbledore... Dumbledore took our son from us.” Kisuke ended with a teary whisper.

Yoruichi tensed in shock, “What?” she hissed.

“Our son, he took our son from us when the boy was only a few hours old, and then he made us forget him,” Kisuke continued, wincing as Yoruichi sunk her claws into his thighs.

“How? How could he make us forget something like that?” Yoruichi spat with a snarl.

“Wizard's Kido, he cast a spell that wiped our child from our memories. I can only assume that he also cleared the house of all evidence of a newborn so that nothing would trigger us to remember.” Kisuke explained with a shrug, continuing to stroke Yoruichi's fur in an effort to keep her calm and stop her from shredding his thighs with her claws.

Yoruichi was quiet for several minutes, Kisuke knew that she was contemplating her next move and hoped that she wouldn't immediately demand Dumbledore's head on a plate. The tense silence continued to stretch, until Kisuke noted that Yoruichi had withdrawn her claws from his lap. Her voice was a mere whisper when she next spoke, “Where is he Kisuke? Where is my son? You wouldn't have brought this up if you didn't know.” 

“He's asleep upstairs. He and two of his friends are recovering from spending 24 hours fighting a swarm of hollows that appeared in Karakura. They did well too.” Kisuke explained ending with a proud smile on his face.

“He's old enough to fight hollows? When did he get taken from us?” Yoruichi wondered aloud.

“Haruto is sixteen, a couple of weeks less than a year older than Isshin's oldest. Since he's grown up as a human he's much more mature than he would be if he'd been born in the Soul Society. He arrived in Karakura just over a month ago with his two friends. He found me because he'd discovered that the people who he'd always thought were his parents were just the couple that Dumbledore had left him with. He hired some investigators and they tracked down the Shoten, so he came to investigate. I first ran into him down at the riverside park where he introduced himself and told me that he had some very important information for me.”

“And he's really our son?”

“He is, I verified it myself. Genetically and in terms of his Reiryoku he is a blend of us. Even if he wasn't I'd still be training him, when we first met I knocked his soul from his body and it came out wearing a Shihakusho. He's a Shinigami in a living body.”

“Ok, so how did that happen?”

“I'm not sure, if he'd been born as a spirit here in the human world I would have put him in a Gigai, like I had to do for Isshin's children... Come to think of it, why did I know just how to create a Gigai that could convincingly and reliably mimic a living human when I needed to do that? The first one must have been the one I made for our son, but I'd forgotten due to Dumbledore's spell.” Kisuke mused.

“You said his name is Haruto?”

“It is, and he has been looking for you as well, only his investigators haven't been able to find any trace of a Shihōin Yoruichi. It was only because I named this place Urahara Shoten that he was able to find me. Dumbledore had taken him to England and placed him with a Wizarding family there. He grew up for fifteen years thinking he was a wizard named Harry Potter.”

“How could he think he was a wizard? Their power isn't anything like Reiryoku.”

“More of Dumbledore's meddling, he used his magic to force our son's Reiryoku to act like a wizard's magical core. It is very likely that the only reason he didn't make our son into a Hollow was that Haruto was an infant when Dumbledore put him with the Potters, and Haruto's soul would have been more malleable at that age.”

Yoruichi growled, “Tell me that you've taken care of this meddling bastard.”

Kisuke sighed, “There hasn't been time, I've been more concerned with making sure that Haruto has the training he needs. Our son is strong, he'd be attracting the attention of Hollows if Isshin’s eldest, Ichigo, wasn't around to divert their attention. Also Dumbledore isn't going anywhere, I know where he is, but I need to know more about what's going on in the English Wizarding World before we can make any moves against him.”

“Why?” Yoruichi asked in an irritated snarl.

“It turns out that Dumbledore's a very important person to the Wizarding World.” Kisuke explained, “He holds several positions of authority in their world and most of the Wizarding public in England look to him for guidance. Right now taking him out of the picture would cause too much chaos. Do you remember what he was always talking about when he'd visit?”

“Hm, it was something about a war right?”

“Yes, the Wizarding World in Europe had seen the rise of a dark wizard, calling himself Voldemort, who wanted to purge their society of anyone with 'impure' blood. Meaning anyone who couldn't trace their family back at least five generations to only wizards.”

“That's stupid, if you restrict yourselves to only marrying other with that kind of pedigree you'd soon end up with all sorts of physical and genetic problems.”

“True, but most wizards don't understand current sciences like genetics and the idea of inbreeding.”

“Current? That information has been around in the human world since the 1600's, and you found information about Soul Society knowing at least a little about genetics even before that.”

Kisuke nodded, “Ah, but English Wizarding society hasn't followed the progress of the mundane world much past the 1200's, except in a few areas. They still wear long robes, write with quill pens and use parchment instead of paper.”

Yoruichi fell quiet, thinking about what that could mean for her son, “And what about Haruto, has he been affected by being raised in such an environment?”

“No, Haruto didn't grow up in the Wizarding World. The Potters were killed when Haruto was just over a year old and Dumbledore placed him with the remaining family of Mrs. Potter. Through conversations I've had with him I've discovered that the Dursleys are not wizards, and would rather have absolutely nothing to do with magic of any kind. While he was growing up Haruto was exposed to the regular non-magical English society. He went to the regular primary schools until he was eleven, then he was introduced to the English magical world and began to attend the premiere English magical school – Hogwarts.”

“Hogwarts? That sounds like some kind of horrible skin disease.” Yoruichi said with a chuckle.

“I know, but I didn't name it.” Kisuke said with a smile as he continued to stroke Yoruichi's fur. He was very glad that his Shihōin princess was being so calm, but he also knew that it would be only a matter of time before she would want revenge on Dumbledore.

“So what are we going to do about Dumbledore?”

“Well as I mentioned, I need to find out what is going on in the English Wizarding World right now. Haruto told me that he had done something to this Voldemort character when the Potters were killed that put the war on hiatus from the time he was a baby until he started at Hogwarts. Now Voldemort and his followers are starting to make moves again and the war is expected to continue to get worse until someone takes Voldemort out, or he wins and subjugates them all to his 'pure blood' idealism. Unfortunately, right now Dumbledore is the leader of the forces who have put themselves against Voldemort...”

“And they'll just collapse if he gets taken out?”

“Right now, yes they would. Dumbledore had been grooming Harry Potter to take his place as leader, holding him up as the only person who could save them from the threat of Voldemort. Dumbledore created a cult of personality around Harry Potter so strong that according to Haruto and his friends most of the English Wizarding society act like sheep under Dumbledore's guidance. However, when Haruto discovered who he really was he left the Wizarding World to find us and learn about being a Shinigami.”

“Good for him.” Yoruichi said smugly, proud of the son she had yet to meet. “I take it that if Dumbledore finds out that Haruto used to be this 'Harry Potter' he would want to drag him back to England?”

“Yes, in fact Dumbledore has already been here looking for 'Harry', but I've put him off the scent for a while. Haruto and his friends were away playing tourist in Osaka when Dumbledore visited, and I was able to convince Dumbledore that I'd keep my eyes open for 'Harry'. I've sent him a couple of reports to keep him thinking that I'm assisting in his search, but that I haven't been able to find the boy.”

“Why not just confront him?”

“I'm not sure I could keep Dumbledore from using the same spell he did last time he took Haruto away from us. Tessai has been working with one of Haruto's friends, a wizard named Weasley Bill, to try and come up with a Kido technique that would protect us from the effects, but it's still in the early stages. For now it is safer to mislead Dumbledore and avoid the confrontation. I also want to know more about Voldemort, there are a few things that Haruto and his friends have said that lead me to believe that he's not a normal wizard. I asked Haruto about the first time he heard his Zanpakuto's voice and Haruto said that it was during a battle against a giant snake and possessed diary, and that the diary held a portion of Voldemort's soul.”

“What?” squeaked Yoruichi, “A 'portion' of a soul? How is that possible?”

“I don't know, which is why I want to hold off going after Dumbledore and why I need to learn more about the Wizarding World.” grumbled Kisuke, “There's another thing too, I've a feeling that something is coming that's going to involve us back with Soul Society. It's just a hunch, but Ichigo became a Shinigami in May and he's been training with Rukia Kuchiki, a member of Jushiro’s squad. Ichigo is already strong, but he needs more training and I'm not sure that he's going to get the time. The Onmitsukidō have been very active in Karakura lately and I haven't figured out if it's just Suí-Fēng wanting more pictures of you, or if they're keeping a close eye on Ichigo.”

“From the Reiatsu I felt when I came into town, I'd say that they're keeping an eye on whoever left that huge imprint in the park the other day.”

“That'd be Ichigo then, the kid seriously needs to learn about controlling how much Reiatsu he puts out. Although from what he leaks out on a continual basis, he's got to have some monstrous reserves. If he doesn't learn to pull it in he'll end up like Kenpachi in a couple of years.”

“Are you planning on training him?” Yoruichi asked

“Aa, he needs to learn how to work with others and I think Haruto could use someone to be his 'Taichou'. Haruto will lead if he has to, but I have the feeling that he'd prefer to be in more in the position of a strong Fukutaichou.”

Yoruichi gave Kisuke a thoughtful look, “So our son isn't Taichou material?” as she flexed her claws to show her displeasure at the thought.

“That's not what I meant,” Kisuke griped as he felt Yoruichi's claws dig in once more, “Haruto has the potential of being a great Taichou, but in the Wizarding World he was constantly pushed forward into a leading position. It needs to be his choice... If it isn't, he won't be happy. He's like us in that way.”

“So why do you say that Ichigo, who's a year younger, is a better Taichou?”

Kisuke thought for a moment before answering, “Ichigo is a born leader, there's something about him that makes people want to follow him. Heck, I've only met him a couple of times and I'd be willing to follow him if he asked.”

“Sounds like he inherited Isshin's charisma.” Yoruichi murmured, “The entire Tenth just about charged into Karakura when he didn't come back from that mission.”

“He did,” Kisuke agreed. “Ichigo's much more serious, but that charisma is still there. People will follow him because he'll convince them that he's on the right path, not so much by words, but by his actions. He's got a strong sense of honor, and I have no doubt that he'll challenge anyone who threatens his family or friends.”

The pair sat for a few more minutes. Kisuke lazily stroking Yoruichi's fur, until she stood and stretched, “I want to see our son Kisuke, where is he?”

“We made the guest room to the left of Jinta's room into his. Two more of Haruto's friends, Weasley Fred and George, are staying in the guest room next to Ururu's.” Kisuke explained, “Don't be surprised if he knows you're there, even if you use your cat form. Haruto's ability to sense Reiryoku has been growing by leaps and bounds, and he had a teacher who could turn into a cat.”

“Oh?”

“The wizards who can do it call it an 'Animagus transformation', but it turns the wizard almost completely into an animal. The wizard will keep their mind if they're talented enough, but they can't talk like you can.” Kisuke explained as the subject had come up in one of his discussions with Bill about Hogwarts and the English Wizarding World in general. “Oh, and since it uses magic the wizard's transformation also allows them to keep their clothing with them.”

“Really? That could be a useful skill to know. There have been a couple of times when I've had to transform where it would have been really nice to have clothing.”

Kisuke grinned, “I never thought you could be so modest.”

Yoruichi snorted, “Heh, you know I'm not body shy. It's just that changing back to human in the middle of a blizzard to take care of a troublesome Hollow can be rather cold when you have no clothes.”

Kisuke's grin grew larger, “I'll look into it. The work I've been doing with Bill has shown some potential to translate well into some new Kido techniques. Bill works for the Wizarding bank in Tokyo. He's been helping add to the protections around the Shoten and has been working with Tessai to help train the others in Kido.” Kisuke explained.

Yoruichi nodded. Satisfied for now, she made her way over to the base of the ladder which led back up to the shop. Sending a fond look back over her shoulder to Kisuke she sped up the rungs excited with the prospect of seeing her son for the first time. Padding through the hallways she soon was in front of the sliding door that Kisuke had told her led to her son's room. Hooking a paw in the edge of the door she was able to slide it open far enough to allow her entry. The room was modest, done up primarily in colors of blue and green with a splash of gold here and there. The walls were sparsely decorated, a couple of wall scrolls, depicting classical landscapes, and a calendar breaking up the monotony, there was a low bed, a student's desk and a bookshelf next to the sliding doors of the closet. Yoruichi could see that there was someone asleep in the bed so she made her way over and jumped up next to the pillow. The young man's sleep rumpled ash blond hair stuck up above the comforter which was hiding most of his face, but Yoruichi had noticed a slight change in his breathing as she hopped up, which told her that her son was aware of her. She put out a gentle paw and gave his head a nudge. At her touch Haruto turned his head slowly and blinked his eyes open.

“Well hello there, and who might you be? I've never seen a cat around the Shoten before.” Haruto said in a sleepy voice as he brought a hand out from under the covers and offered his fingers to Yoruichi to sniff, “But then again I don't think you're really just a cat are you.”

Yoruichi shook her head before butting her head firmly against Haruto's hand. Haruto responded by massaging her ears and the back of her neck which encouraged her to purr and push even closer. This was her Kitten, the moment he'd touched her she knew this without a doubt and Yoruichi suddenly knew why she'd spent most of the last sixteen years roaming the human world. Even if Dumbledore had caused her to forget with some kind of Kido her instincts remembered, she'd been searching the world for her lost kitten. Feeling a sudden urge Yoruichi started grooming Haruto's unruly hair needing to connect with her son who'd been missing for so long.

Haruto started to chuckle as Yoruichi began to groom his eyebrows with her rough tongue, “Okay, okay, you're obviously pleased to meet me, but what's with the bath? I've just met you and if you are really a person than this is pretty sudden for such intimacy, neh?”

Yoruichi blinked at the young man. She still felt a strong urge to groom her kitten, who was now in front of her after so long, but she also knew that she had to introduce herself. Sitting back on her haunches Yoruichi tipped her head to one side, just as she was about to speak she heard the door behind her slide open.

“Ah Haruto, I see you've met your mother!” Kisuke said with a smiling voice as he slid the door open to witness Yoruichi sitting at Haruto's shoulder.

“Mom?” Haruto questioned with wide eyes, “But I thought that Shinigami were different from Wizards... How can mom be a cat if she isn't an Animagus?”

“I'm not,” Yoruichi explained, “this is a special talent from my family.”

Haruto blinked at the low, growly, and unquestionably male sounding voice that came from the black cat at his shoulder, “You can talk?”

“Yes.”

“Okay that's something an Animagus can't do, but if you're my mom, then why do you sound like a man?”

The black cat shrugged, then was enveloped in a cloud of purple smoke. Out of the smoke her voice was heard, changing as the cloud grew and the cat transformed from a cat to a woman, “Never figured that out, but all of the family who can change speak with men's voices when we're cats.”

Haruto blushed bright red and scrambled off the far edge of his bed as the purple cloud of smoke dispersed and revealed that his mom was completely naked. She was beautiful, her hair was a deep purple color and her body was curvy in all the right places, but also undeniably lean and strong. Her deep caramel colored skin stretching smoothly over well defined muscles. Haruto's fingers quickly found the robe he had draped over his desk chair and tossed it at her while exclaiming, “Mom! Put something on, I can't talk to you when you're naked!”

The sound of both of his parents laughing filled the room as Yoruichi snagged the robe out of the air and quickly wrapped it around herself, “Ha! Well I'm glad your reaction is better than most. Usually when I shift I can expect a man to be caught flat-footed, or too embarrassed to look at me. I've even caused a couple of guys to faint.”

“Yeah, well...” Haruto said nervously while rubbing the back of his neck, “my Godfather was an Animagus and he liked to play tricks. There were a couple of times he caught me with that trick, before I learned to keep a robe handy and brush it off as part of his sense of humor. I'm kind of surprised that I reacted so well. My Godfather's form was a big black dog. The only other person who I knew could turn into a cat was my head of house from my school, and McGonagall would never have allowed herself to be seen naked.”

“Prim and proper, eh?”

“Definitely, she's also the Assistant Headmaster and old enough to be my grandmother.”

Yoruichi smirked, “You do realize that I'm probably older than her right?”

Haruto thought for a moment and several things clicked together in his head, he was truly entering a new world with his real parents and he knew very little about it. His father had been giving him hints during their conversations after their daily training sessions, but it was this simple statement by his mom that had made the most impact. Haruto was suddenly roused from his contemplations by having his mom's arms wrap around him in a hug.

“Tell me what you were just thinking about musuko.”

Haruto sighed, “There's just so much I don't know about you, dad and everything that I should have grown up with. It didn't really hit me until your comment about being older than McGonagall.”

Yoruichi smiled as she squeezed her son tighter, “Ah, nothing to worry about then. People here in the living world grow up so quickly, I often forget too. In Soul Society someone looking your age could be anywhere between 50 and 100 years old. There are even a few notable people who are even older. The Captain of the 10th division looks like he's eleven, but he's closer to 250.”

“Why?”

Kisuke spoke up from the doorway, entering the room and taking a seat in Haruto's desk chair, “As best we can figure it has to do with how much Reiryoku a soul has. The greater a soul's reserves and the higher the potential, the slower a soul ages. There is a curve to it as well. A soul born in Soul Society will age at about half the rate of a person born in the Living world until they reach the age of 16 or 20, then their bodies start responding to their level of Reiryoku and their aging slows down to match.”

“So, if I were in Soul Society I'd look like an 8 year old?”

“Yep, for all intents and purposes you would be. The passage of time in Soul Society isn't felt as strongly as it is here.”

“Okay, just as long as you remember that I grew up here and that I don't need to be treated like a little kid.” Haruto muttered as he was betrayed by a yawn as he was still recovering from his marathon fight through Karakura.

“We'll try,” Yoruichi said with a grin as she pulled back and looked at Haruto's face, “but for now why don't you get back in bed and sleep for a few more hours. I'll still be here when you wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language Note: Musuko – Japanese for 'son'.


End file.
